il 


mt 


^:- 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

Vacs,  Ben  B.  Lindsey 


Sett  ^jJlinii^t^ 


"     THE     HILLS    OF    HOLY    IRELAND" 


ON    THE   EVE    OF 
HOME  RULE 

Snapshots  of  Ireland  in  the 
momentous  summer  of  1914. 

BY 

ANNA    LOUISE    STRONG 


^ 


PUBLISHED     BY 

THE      O     CONNELL       PRESS 
AUSTIN,     CHICAGO 


CONTENTS 


On  the   West  Coast 

In  the  Contested  Ulster  Counties 

The  "Armed   Camps" 

In   Kerry  after  the  Dublin  Shooting 

Out  of  the   Past 

The   Declaring  of  War 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 
"The   Hills   of  Holy   Ireland" Frontispiece 

"In  a  Jaunting  Car  One  Rides  High  in  Air" 11 

The   Turf   Fire    of   His    Cottage 15 

Piling  Turf  16 

Without  the  Convenient  Turf  for  Fuel,  the  Irish 
Tenant  Would  Be  Even  More  Poverty-Srick- 
en  Than  He  is  17 

A  Drive  Across   Ireland  23 

In  Nationalist  Ulster.  The  Majority  Even  of 
Ulster  Counties  Voted  for  Home  Rule 30 

"This  Year  We  Have  With  Us  4,U(J0  Irish  Volun- 
teers"   - 34 

A  Route  ^larch  to  Killiney  43 

Men  Who  have  Worked  All  Day  for  Two  Shil- 
lings, Pay  Three  Pence  to  be  Allowed  to 
Drill    43 

A  Spinner  of  Donegal 45 

All  Dublin  Came  to  the  Funeral  that  Followed 
t!ie    Shooting   51 

A  Wild   Mountainous   Country  52 

A  Villager   Contirmc-d   thf   Statement 56 

Island  of  Dreams  66 


1106141 


FOREWORD 


"You  surely  are  one  of  the  lucky  people  of  the 
world,"  wrote  a  friend  as  I  was  leaving  Ireland. 
"You  have  hit  Ireland  in  the  middle  of  the  most 
exciting  bit  of  history  that  has  ever  been  made  in 
this  island.  For  the  first  time  in  seven  centuries, 
Ireland  and  England  are  acting  side  by  side,  in  an 
armed  friendship.  For  the  first  time,  England  is 
trusting  Ireland  with  her  own  defense.  More 
changes  will  come  about  as  the  result  of  Redmond's 
speech  and  Asquith's  statement  about  arming  the 
Irish  Volunteers,  than  have  come  since  the  two 
islands  came  into  the  relationshi])  that  has  lasted, 
in   one   form   or  another,   since    1171." 

Such  was  the  sentiment  of  Nationalist  Ireland  at 
the  outI)reak  of  the  great  war.  But  among  the  Irish 
in  America.  I  found  the  feeling  widely  different  on 
my  return.  Bitterness  against  Redmond  as  betrayer 
of  his  people,  coupled  with  hope  of  German  suc- 
cess, was  very  widespread.  It  would  seem  that  the 
Irish  of  the  second  generation,  reared  on  tales  of 
the  grievous  wrongs  of  their  parents,  have  come 
to  feel  that  loyalty  to  Ireland  is  great  in  proportion 
to  hatred  of  England,  while  the  Irish  in  Ireland 
have  watched  the  growth  of  mutual  understanding 
between  the  two  islands,  have  seen  both  democra- 
cies vote  together  three  times  for  Home  Rule,  and 
now  are  found,  a  little  to  their  surpise,  on  the  side 
of  their  ancient  foes. 

The  fact  that  England  now  tights  as  an  ally  of 
their    old    friend,    France,    and    in    defense    of    little, 


FORE  W  (j  R  D 


lilierty-loving  Belgium,  has  perhaps  contributed 
much  to  this  result,  but  deeper  reasons  would  seem 
to  lie  in  the  slow  but  real  change  of  British  policy 
toward  Ireland  in  the  past  few  years.  Just  before 
the  signing  of  the  Home  Rule  Bill  almost  the  only 
pro-Germans  I  could  iind  in  Ireland  were  a  few 
disgruntled  Orangemen,  angry  at  the  turn  events 
had  taken. 

Whether  the  Irish  in  Ireland  are  right  in  believ- 
ing a  new  day  has  dawned,  or  whether  the  Irish 
in  America  are  right  in  thinking  that  England  will 
again  I)etray  their  confidence,  only  time  will  show. 
In  either  event,  I  have  indeed,  in  the  past  few 
months,  watched  at  close  hand  the  making  of  his- 
tory, and  a  picture  of  Ireland  in  the  summer  of 
1914  seems  worth  preserving,  even  though  seen  by 
a  stranger,  who  confesses  with  shame  to  no  previ- 
ous knowledge    of   Irish   politics   or  history. 

Perhaps  even  that  very  fact  may  make  the  experi- 
ences more  worth  recording.  Coming  to  Ireland 
without  political  bias,  or  indeed  political  knowledge, 
a  Protestant,  and  as  such  it  might  seem  predisposed 
to  the  Unionist  cause,  I  became,  during  the  events 
covered  by  these  chapters,  a  lover  of  Erin,  and  an 
ardent  Nationalist,  with  a  strong  desire  to  convey 
to  others,  not  arguments  or  serious  presentation  of 
history,  but  the  Hashing  pictures  of  life  which 
gave  me  my  own  convictions  and  made  me  find  in 
''the  fair  hills  of  holy  Ireland"  almost  a  second 
home,   a  second  motherland. 

In  all  pictures  of  this  momentous  summer  in  Ire- 
land, the  Irish  Nationalist  Volunteers  must  figure 
largely.  Nor  must  it  be  supposed  that  with  the 
coming  of  war  and  the  passing  of  the  Home  Rule 
Bill,  their  significance  ceased  in  August.  1914.  A 
similar  supposition  led  to  the  loss  of  the  Irish   Par- 


FOREWORD 


liament  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  Ireland 
has  no  wish   to  repeat  tliat  history. 

Xo  Irishman,  I  imagine,  will  suppose  that  the 
situation  shown  in  these  chapters  can  yet  be  re- 
garded as  ancient  history.  There  is  still  the  Amend- 
ing Bill  to  come,  still  the  exasperating  delay.  Four 
Ulster  counties  are  still  determined  that  not  only 
they,  hut  iive  other  counties  shall  be  excluded. 
\\'hen  the  war  is  over,  discussion  must  again  arise, 
though  the  common  sympathies  aroused  by  common 
sorrow  may  make  it  less  bitter.  The  time  "on  the 
eve  of  Home  Rule"  is  a  time  nut  yet  passed. 

One  critic  told  me.  while  in  Ireland,  that  the  Vol- 
unteers had  "no  military  significance."  Reading 
the  last  phrase  in  the  sound  of  the  crashing  civiliza- 
tions of  Europe,  1  am  glad  to  believe  it  true.  Ire- 
land has  given  me  again  a  vision  of  a  patriotism 
which  has  "no  military  significance,''  no  desire  for 
conquest,  no  tendency  even  in  words  to  belittle 
other  nations,  no  wish  to  rule  those  who  do  not 
wish  to  be  ruled.  Even  at  the  risk  of  cutting  in  two 
her  "holy"  island,  Nationalist  Ireland  sadly  agreed 
to  allow  any  county  to  exclude  itself  by  popular 
vote.  .\n(l  that  Ireland  should  wish  to  extend  her 
sway  to  include  other  islands,  in  the  common  way 
of  nations,  could  hardly  enter  the  mind  of  man. 
It  is  significant  that  while  to  other  peoples  the  land 
that  bore  them  is  a  fatherland,  male,  aggressive, 
masterful,  Ireland  is  the  "little  old  woman."  the 
beloved  Rosaleen,  most  of  all  the  mother  whose 
sorrows  are  holy,  whose  heartli-fire  is  home  to  all 
her  wandering  sons. 

The  real  significance  of  the  Volunteer  movement 
may  indeed  prove  to  be  not  military,  but  political, 
marking  the  rebirth  of  a  nation  and  the  welding 
together  of  many  factions  by  a  common  si)irit.    Such 


-y— 


FOREWORD 


political  significance  would  mean  an  influence  which 
will  extend,  not  only  to  the  securing  and  defending 
of  Home  Rule,  but  to  that  greater  and  more  deli- 
cate task,  the  building  of  a  nation  that  shall  be 
worthy  the  name  given  by  her  poet  sons,  "Holy 
Ireland." 

Thanks  are  due  to  the  Westminster  Gazette  for 
permission  to  repuljlish  these  articles.  I  must  also 
express  deep  gratitude  to  Her  Excellency,  the 
Countess  of  Aberdeen,  for  making  my  visit  to  Ire- 
land possible,  both  as  a  whole  and  in  detail;  and 
to  all  those  many  others  of  high  and  low  degree, 
through  whose  courtesy,  kindness  and  hospitality  I 
have  come  to  know  this  Island  of  Dreams  as  a  land 
blessed  above  other  lands  by  three  simple,  primitive 
sentiments,  which  in  one  form  or  other,  however 
changed,  must  underly  all  sound  society:  love  of 
country,  love  of  the  stranger-guest,   love  of  God. 


-10- 


On  the  West  Coast 

"Sure"  it's  the  fine  time  for  ye  to  be  coniin'  to 
Ireland  now,  with  the  Home  Rule  and  all  soon 
upon  us.  And  is  it  from  America  ye  are,  new?  It's 
the  best  half  of  County  Mayo  is  in  America.  Sure, 
I  had  an  uncle  of  mesilf  that  was  a  senator  from 
Philadelphia,  and  I  never  got  a  ha'penny  out  of 
him." 


•'IX   .^    T.M'XTING  CKR  OXE   RIDES   HICH   IX  AIR' 


It  was  our  driver  who  spoke.  We  had  come 
down  from  Dublin,  to  visit  one  of  the  old  county 
families,  with  the  intention  of  seeing  the  life  of  the 
West  Coast,  and  the  Irish  Volunteers  who  were 
organizing  in  force  to  match  Sir  Edward  Carson's 
Ulster  Volunteers.  We  found  at  the  village  station 
a  jaunting  car,  and  a  ln(|nacinus  driver.     In  a  jaunt- 

—11— 


ox       THE       E  \^  E       OF       H  O  AI  E       RULE 

ing  car  one  rides  high  in  air  near  the  driver,  and 
speech  is  easy. 

"But  you  haven't  Home  Rule  yet."  I  remarked. 

"Sure,  'tis  only  the  signin'  of  the  bill  be  the  king 
now,  and  I'm  thinkin"  'tis  not  the  king  will  be  re- 
fusin'  us,  with  the   Irish   Volunteers  and  all." 

"Are  you  one  of  the   Irish   Volunteers?" 

"I  am  that,  miss.  We  do  be  drillin'  every  night 
over  Murphy's  shop." 

"What   are   you   drilling   for?" 

"Drillin',  is  it?  What  are  we  drillin'  for?"  He 
sent  me  a  glance  that  just  escaped  l^eing  a  wink. 
"It's  drillin'  to  fight  the  Gairmans  we  are,  miss. 
Sure,  we'll  all  go  down  to  the  say-shore,  and  divil 
a   Gairman  will  set  foot  on  it  whatever." 

(This  was  two  months  before  the  war  with  Ger- 
many. "I  suppose  it's  a  jest,"  I  said  to  my  hostess. 
"Not  entirely."  she  replied.  "The  real  hope  of  the 
Volunteers  is  to  become  the  national  army  of  home 
defense,  and  they  know  the  Germans  are  the  most 
dangerous   possibility.") 

Another  understanding  twinkle  before  he  resumed. 

"They  do  say  they're  going  to  cross  swords  with 
Ulster.  But  they  will  not.  It's  a  fine  thing  for  the 
young"  men,  miss.  They  are  getting  that  straight 
and  healthy.  But  there's  them  in  it  that  are  over 
sixty,  and  Jamesie  O'Sullivan.  he's  five  foot  six,  and 
he  weighs  nineteen  stone,  and  he's  that  stiff  he  can't 
tie  his  own  shoes  whatever.  I  do  be  thinkin'  'twill 
be  a  fine  thing  for  reducin'  him,  if  his,  heart  holds 
out." 

"What  do  you  think  of  Redmond's  idea?"  I  asked. 

"Is  it  about  the  Volunteers  ye're  meaning?"  he 
asked,  and  I  assented.  Redmond,  the  leader  of  the 
Irish  Party  in  Parliament,  had  declared  that  the 
comiuittce    which     was    organizing    the    Volunteers 

—12— 


ON  THE  WEST  COAST 

should,  instead  of  consisting  of  twenty-five  men  of 
Dublin,  he  enlarged  to  twice  that  number  with  the 
additional  members  appointed  by  the  Irish  Party. 
A  storm  of  comment  had  arisen  in  the  papers  that 
very  morning,  and  I  was  anxious  to  know  how 
much  the  lri>h  \illaner  understood  of  the  situation. 
"Well,  somebody's  got  to  be  under  somebody, 
miss."  he  answered.  "  'Tis  under  our  own  Parlia- 
ment we'll  be  next  year.  But  I'm  thinkin'  now  'tis 
Ijetter  to  be  under  the  Irish  Party  than  under 
twenty-five  men  of  Du!)lin  that's  ilicted  themsilves 
to  run  the  Irish  Volunteers.  I'll  be  thinkin'  Red- 
mond will  put  some  men   from  the  counties  on." 

We  turned  through  a  gate  up  a  long  lane  over- 
hung' with  trees,  which  led  at  the  end  to  a  beautiful 
English  garden  and  an  old-fashioned  country-house. 
The  old  estates  are  fast  breaking  up.  Law  after 
law  has  taken  away  the  power  of  the  landlord,  and 
in  many  of  the  old  families  the  feeling  is  bitter. 
But  the  two  ladies  with  whom  we  were  to  stay 
were  the  type  of  good  landlord,  who  kept  close  to 
the  intimate  life  of  their  tenants,  nursing  them  in 
sickness,  sitting  beside  their  death-beds,  stimulat- 
ing the  growing  of  new  vegetal)les  and  the  develop- 
ment (if  new  resources.  One  of  them  was  a  district 
organizer  of  the  Women's  National  Health  Associ- 
ation of  Ireland,  a  society  which,  more  than  any 
other,  has  brought  to  the  women  in  distant  villages 
the  light  of  new  knowledge  and  tlie  joy  of  mutual 
effort.  The  other  was  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Gaelic  League,  which  has  revived  the  Irish  national 
pride,  stimulated  Irish  industries,  and  is  attempting 
to  maintain  the  Irish  language.  Both  felt  that  they 
were  called  upon  to  lulp,  through  their  knowledge, 
their  local  prestige,  and  the  giving  up  of  their  lands, 
in   the  rebuilding  of  a  nation. 

-13- 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


This  spirit  is  wide-spread  along  the  West  Coast 
and  in  other  parts  of  Ireland.  Under  the  light- 
hearted  chaff  of  farmers  and  drivers  runs  a  deep 
feeling  that  Ireland  is  coming  to  her  own  again, 
and  that  they,  each  and  all,  are  making  history. 

Nowhere,  except  in  joke,  did  there  seem  to  ])e 
that  bitterness  toward  Ulster,  which  Ulster  felt 
toward  the  South.  They  laughed  about  Ulster;  they 
jested  about  the  chances  of  war  with  "them  Carson- 
ites,"   but    no   one   admitted    the    possibility. 

"Sure,  and  Sir  Edward  Carson  should  have  been 
in  jail  two  years  ago,  miss,  for  breakin'  of  the 
English  law.  But  'tis  a  good  thing  now  that  he 
wasn't,  miss.  For  if  there'd  licen  no  Ulster  Volun- 
teers, there'd  have  l)een  no  Irish  Volunteers,  and 
'tis  the  Irish  Volunteers  that  are  the  hope  of  the 
country,  miss." 

And  from  another:  "Begurra,  them  Orangemen 
was  thinkin'  to  frighten  the  deuce  out  of  us,  till  we 
got  our  own  Volunteers.  But  I  see  as  none  of  those 
Belfast  .shopkeepers  went  out  to  fight  the  Boers. 
The  Connaught  Rangers,  they  were  the  fighters, 
miss.  And  I'm  thinkin'  if  any  of  them  shopkeepers 
come  up  against  a  bayonet,  they'll  be  quite  con- 
tinted  to  retire  and  make  money  behind  their  coun- 
ters again." 

"Will   there   really   be   fighting  with    Ulster?" 

"There  will  not.  And  for  why?  There's  Irish 
Volunteers  in  the  North  now,  and  in  every  county. 
There's  more  of  them  in  Derry  than  there  is  Car- 
sonites.  .\nd  they  do  be  salutin'  each  other  as  they 
pass.  Them  Northerners  hate  to  come  in  with  the 
likes  of  us,  miss,  that  they've  been  rulin'  all  these 
years,  but  sure  they'll  do  it  in  the  end,  and  we'll  be 
all  one  Irish  army.  There's  150,000  Irish  Volunteers 
now,  and   more  are  joinin'   every   day." 

—14— 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 

A  countryman  spoke  from  beside  the  turf  fire  of 
his  cottage,  in  the  possession  of  which  he  at  last 
felt  secure,  since  the  Congested  Districts  Board 
had  bought  up  tlie  land,  and  was  selling  it  to  him 
and  his  heirs  in  installments   covering  fifty  years. 

"What  good  is  there  in  a  country  if  it  cannot 
difind  itself,  miss?  Sure,  the  standing  army  of 
America   is   an   army    of  \olunteers,   and   one   volun- 


I'llJXC,    TURF 

teer,  sure,  is  worth  two  hired  men.  It's  the  Irish 
are  the  fighters,  miss,  and  'tis  glad  they  be  to  have 
a  chance   at   an  army  of  their  own." 

He  turned  the  talk  to  Michael  Davitt,  a  rebellious 
thinker  and  organizer  of  the  land  agitation.  "It's 
glad  he'd  be  to  see  the  day.  It's  a  great  pathriot 
he  was,  sure,  and  he  spint  ten  years  in  jail,  and  he 
died   for   Ireland." 

More  frequently  the  humorous  side  of  the  drilling 
was  discussed.  They  had  marched  six  miles  and 
back  one  evening.     "And   they   only  gave   us  fifteen 

—16— 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


minutes  to  rest,  miss,  and  when  they  were  over 
there  wasn't  a  drop  of  lieer  in  either  of  the  two 
public  houses.  We  were  that  dry.  And  we  marched 
back  singing  'God  Save   Ireland.'" 

"  'God   Save   Ireland,"  what   song  is  that?" 

"Sure,  every  man  had  an  air  of  his  own,  but  'tis 
the  grand  song  whatever." 

In  place  after  place,  among  Catholics  and  Protest- 
ants,  I   raised  the  question  of  the  priests. 

"The  priests  are  against  our  Volunteers,"  said 
one,  "but  the  priests  in  some  of  the  counties  are 
for  them.     It's  not  one  way  at  all  whatever." 

"But  they  say  in  the  North  that  if  Home  Rule  is 
allowed,    the    priests   will   govern    Ireland." 

"Between  you  and  me  and  the  side  of  the  wall, 
now."  said  a  weather-beaten  farmer,  "they'll  have 
less  power  than  they  have  now.  And  'tis  them- 
selves are  afraid  'twill  be  France  and  Italy  over 
again." 

"Sure,  if  the  country  was  to  be  without  religion," 
said  another,  "  'twould  he  destroyed  entirely.  But 
we  do  not  be  running  to  priests  any  more,  miss,  for 
to  ask  if  we  can  wash  our  faces  in  the  morning." 

Our  Protestant  hostess  held  the  same  view. 
"There  are  900  householders  in  this  district,"  she 
said,  "and  only  three  of  them  are  Protestants.  But 
the  question  of  religion  never  arises  in  our  dealings 
with  our  neighbors.  They  are  the  most  tolerant 
people  in  the  world,  the  Irish  of  the  West  and 
South.  And  most  Southern  and  Western  Protest- 
ants will  tell  you  the  same." 

"How  do  you  account  for  the  ]:)itter  religious  feel- 
ing in  the  North?" 

"It's  the  last  kick  of  the  Ascendancy  Party.''  she 
said.  "For  two  hundred  years  they  have  ruled  Ire- 
land.    They  hate  and  distrust  the  South  as  masters 

—18— 


ON  THE  WEST  COAST 


always    hate    and    distrust    slaves    wlio    are    gaining 
freedom. 

During  tiu-  time  of  Cromwell,  the  north  of  Ireland 
came  into  the  possession  of  English  and  Scotch 
settlers,  who  were  given  the  lands.  The  historic 
race  of  Ireland  was  driven  into  the  mountains  and 
bogs.  Even  the  South  of  Ireland,  while  remaining 
Irish  and  Catholic,  had  English  Protestant  land- 
lords. The  Protestant  North,  with  England  at 
their  backs,  ruled  Ireland.  Catholics  had  no  civil 
rights.  They  could  own  no  horse  worth  more  than 
$25.  Family  dissensions  were  encouraged  by  a  law 
that  if  a  son  turned  Protestant,  his  father's  posses- 
sions  belonged   to   him. 

"In  1829  Catholic  Emancipation  was  secured. 
Even  yet  Catholics  could  not  be  magistrates,  and 
they  had  to  pay  tithes  to  support  Protestant 
churches.  Then  came  the  'Tithe  War,'  ending  when 
the  tithes  were  placed  upon  the  Protestant  land- 
lords, who  promptly  raised  the  rent  and  took  it  out 
of  the  tenants  again.  Then  followed  the  bitter 
Land  Agitation.  Landlords  were  shot,  bailiffs  were 
shot,  scjuires  were  shot.  The  condition  of  the  peas- 
ants was  frightful.  They  dared  attempt  no  improve- 
ment, lest  the  improxcd  land  be  taken  from  them 
without  notice. 

"Now  a  series  of  Land  Acts  has  mbbed  the  land- 
lord of  arbitrary  power.  The  last  act  empowered  a 
government  board  to  buy  u])  the  lands  tilled  by  ten- 
ants and  sell  them  to  their  tenant  proprietors  on  the 
installment  plan.  The  chan.ge  is  wonderful.  Men 
whose  only  hope  is  that  their  grimdcliildren  may  at 
last  Ovvn  the  land  in  fee  simple  are  ])ulting  in  im- 
provements of  every   sort. 

"During  the  Land  Agitation,  th.e  priests  were  liie 
champions    of   the    people.      Here   and    there    an    old 

—19— 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


priest  of  this  type  still  survives,  and  his  word  is 
law  to  his  people.  But  the  younger  priests  have 
no  such  political  power.  They  lead  in  religion;  the 
Irish   Party   leads  in   politics. 

"We    of    the    South    and    West    feel    that    the    big 
business   interests   of  the    North,   backed   up   by   tre- 
mendous   sums    of    money    from    England,    are    in- 
flaming ignorant  men   of  the   shopkeeper  class  with 
this  bogy  of  the  Pope.     We  think  it's  the  dying  gasp 
of  the   Ascendancy   Party,   a   party  which,  when  the 
present  Viceroy's  predecessor  declared  that   Ireland 
should  be  governed  according  to  Irish  ideas,  raised 
a   great    turmoil    and   forced    him    back   into    line;    a 
party  which   hates  and  maligns  the  present  Viceroy 
and  the  Countess  of  Aberdeen,  because  they  are  the 
lirst  to  go  out  among  the  people.     'Way  out  here  in 
County    Mayo,    where    we    never    had    a    civil    v/ord 
even    from   a   clerk   in    Dublin   Castle,   think   what   it 
meant    when    Her    Excellency    sent    telegram    after 
telegram   at   the   forming   of   the   Women's   National 
Health  Branch,  and  came  out  to  visit  us,  and  to  talk 
with   our    women,   and    remembered   a   year   later   to 
inquire  about  the  health  of  a  sick  boy  she  had  seen. 
But  Dul)lin  Society  and  the  Ascendancy  Party  hate 
her   for   the   'rabble   she  encourages.' 

"We  of  the  South  and  West  believe  that  our  peo- 
ple— well,  tell  us!  You  have  been  among  them. 
Poor,  half-starved,  with  the  best  of  them  gone  to 
America,  even  yet  did  you  find  a  single  cottage 
where  they  did  not  know  what  they  wanted  in  the 
way   of  government   and  why   they  wanted   it?" 

It  was  quite  true.  The  sanity,  good  nature,  and 
political  intelligence  of  the  Irish  countryman  had 
seemed  to  us  little  short  of  marvelous.  Over  and 
over  again  we  had  said:  "They  are  a  wonderful 
people."      As    much   as    any    nation    in   history,    they 

—20— 


ON  THE  WEST  COAST 


have  suffered  for  freedom.  They  have  won  and 
deserve  the  best  they  can  get. 

Whatever  the  Nortli  expected,  the  South  ex- 
pected Home  Rule  with  peace.  In  the  words  of 
the  Irish  porter,  who  helped  us  at  the  station  (who 
criticised  the  versification  of  the  latest  Volunteer 
song,  averring  that  he  had  written  better  ones  in 
the   Land  Agitation  days) : 

"Sure,  I  went  up  to  Ulster.  And  I  was  gifted 
with  sobriety,  and  with  honesty,  and  with  kapin' 
the  1)all  of  me  eye  rollin.'  The  Ulstermen  is  de- 
termined, miss,  but  'tis  not  themselves  will  be 
figlitin'  the  rest  of  Ireland  whatever.  'Tis  fighters 
they  are,  sure,  because  they're  Irish,  but  be  the 
same  token,  tlic}-  have  sinse." 


— :i- 


In  One  of  the  Contested 
Ulster  Counties 

"Why  am  I  an  Ulster  Volunteer?"  said  the  driver 
of  our  car  as  we  trotted  across  one  of  the  hotly- 
contested  counties  in  the  middle  of  Ulster.  "Well, 
now,  I'll  tell  you,  miss.  It's  not  that  I  care  a 
ha'penny  who  runs  the  government;  it's  a  matter 
of  bread  and  butter  with  me. 

"I've  a  wife  and  three  children,  and  I've  got  to 
keep  the  bread  in  their  mouths,  and  the  rest  of  the 
country  can  go  hang  as  it  pleases.  But,  say  I've 
been  paying  26s.  taxes,  and  the  Dublin  Parliament 
comes  up  and  says  I'm  to  pay  36s.,  why  then  I'll 
not  pay  it,  and  then  we'll  fight  them,  for  we'll  none 
of  us  pay  it." 

"But  why  should  the  Dublin  Parliament  mean 
higher  rates?"  I  asked.  "It  would  seem  to  me  that 
an  English  Parliament,  that's  not  responsible  to  the 
people  of  Ireland,  might  tax  you  without  fear,  but 
the  Irish  Parliament  wouldn't  dare,  because  they 
will  hold  their  jobs  at  the  will  of  the  people." 

Up  spoke  the  lady  from  Kerry,  a  cheery,  healthy, 
white-haired  individual  of  some  sixty  years.  "Sure, 
an'  ye  don't  aither  of  ye  know  what  ye're  talking 
about.  'Tis  the  British  Parliament  that's  going  to 
keep  on  taxin'  us.  Home  Rule  or  no!" 

"But  they  say  as  how  taxes'll  be  higher  v.-ith 
Home  Rule,"  said  the  driver.  "And  I'm  for  believ- 
ing them.  Here's  the  towns  of  S —  and  'E — .  Look 
at  them.  S —  is  run  by  the  Catholics  and  E —  is  run 
by    the    Protestants,    and   the    taxes   in   S —  is   twice 


X 


ON       THE        EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 

what  they  are  in  E — .  Js  that  fair  or  is  it  not?  And 
S —  is  a  seaport,  witli  plenty  of  mills  and  a  lot  of 
railways." 

"I  don't  know  how  it  is  Iktc,"  I  answered,  "but  in 
America  it  often  happens  tliat  a  seaport  town  with 
mills  and  railroads  charges  more  taxes  than  little 
country  towns.  Rut  there's  more  money  to  pay 
with." 

"Ah.  there  might  i)e  something  in  that,  but  I  know 
a  man  that  makes  umbrellas,  and  he  has  shops  in 
Dublin,  Belfast  and  London,  and  he  says  his  taxes 
in  Dublin  are  more  than  in  the  other  two  places 
together." 

"I  wonder  the  poor  man  should  keep  his  shop 
there  at  all,"  said  the  lady  from  Kerry,  in  tones  of 
such  extreme  sympathy  that  the  driver  bridled. 

''We've  got  property  all  over  the  North,"  he  said. 
"We  can  manage  ourselves  with  decency.  But  the 
South — they  can't  hold  a  common  Board  of  Guard- 
ians' meeting  in  the  South  without  calling  in  the 
police  to  keep  order.'' 

"Ah,  now,"  said  the  Kerry  lady,  in  her  most 
dulcet  brogue.  "Sure  Em  from  the  county  that's 
farthest  south  and  worst  of  all.  And  Ell  not  be 
denyin'  that  they  take  what  ye  might  call  a  strong 
inthrest  in  discussin'  things  now  and  again.  Sure, 
we  know  we  want  the  common  sinse  of  the  North 
to  balance  us,"  she  added  with  a  smile.  "That's 
why  we  want  you  in  with  us  instid  of  outside." 

It  was  a  bit  unfair  to  leave  the  driver  at  the 
mercy  of  a  lady  from  a  county  so  near  the  Blarney- 
stone,  but  he  stood  his  ground.  "There's  100,000 
men  of  us,"  he  said,  "all  armed  and  drilled,  pledged 
to   fight   the   Irish   Parliament   to   the   death." 

"I  know  that,"  said  I,  "])Ut  I'm  trying  to  discover 

—24— 


]  X    A    C  O  N  T  EST  E  I)    U  L  S  T  E  R    C  O  U  N  T  Y 

the  reason.  All  you  tell  nie  is  that  you're  afraid 
of  the  higher  taxes." 

"We're  fighting,"  he  said,  "because  we  don't  want 
to  be  driven  out  of  the  country  by  those  Catholics 
that  never  made  any  money  themselves  and  never 
could  make  it." 

"Ah,  go  easy  on  us,"  said  the  Kerry  lady,  "and 
tell  us  the  truth.  Sure  we'll  think  none  the  less  of 
you  for  owning  to  it.  Ve're  wanting  to  kape  the 
jobs  ye've  been  havin'.  Sure  England's  been  pam- 
perin'  the  Xorth  all  these  years.  You've  had  the 
best  of  it  and  want  to  keep  it.  Don't  think  we're 
angry  with  ye  for  it.  We  know  we'd  be  doin'  the 
same  in  yer  place.  That's  why  we  love  ye,  because 
ye're  so  full  of  human  nature." 

"Pampered,  not  at  all,  not  at  all!  ll<i\v  have  we 
been   pampered?" 

The  answer  came  like  a  shot.  "Because  England 
let  you  keep  j'our  linen  industry  in  the  North,  and 
destroyed  our  woolen  and  glass  industries  in  the 
South.  P)ecause  our  landlords  crowded  us  into  such 
tiny  holdings  that  we  had  to  send  our  best  and 
strongest  to  America  to  make  money  to  pay  the 
rent  to  F,ngland.  (It's  forty  million  pounds  have 
come  back  from  America  to  Ireland.)  And  then 
you  say  to  us  'Why  aren't  you  prospering?  Why 
don't  you  make  money?'  " 

Delightful  as  was  ihc  lady  from  Kerry.  1  was  not 
getting  on  in  my  attempt  to  discover  the  raison 
d'etre  of  the  lister  Volunteers,  and  the  feelings 
animating  them,  h'or  several  days,  among  workmen, 
officials,  landed  gentry,  professional  people,  I  pur- 
sued my  inciuiry,  finding  the  situation  far  less  easy 
to  analyze  than  in  the  West,  since  the  jircvailing 
note  was  not  that  of  enthusiastic  advocacy  of  any- 
thing,   but    rather    that    of   bitter,    irritated    criticism 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


of  many  things— tax  rates,  Catholics,  the  Govern- 
ment, the  Insurance  Act,  Dublin,  the  lower  classes. 
Each  person  would  assert  that,  as  far  as  he  was 
concerned,  religion  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  "I 
have  very  charming  Catholic  neighbors."  "I  never 
ask  where  a  man  goes  to   church." 

Yet,  in  spite  of  these  self-conscious  statements, 
there  were  constant  betrayals  of  religious  prejudice. 

The  Protestant  laborers  of  Belfast  who  had  voted 
for  a  Nationalist  were  mentioned  bitterly  as  "the 
rotten  Protestants;"  and  a  Protestant  ])usiness  man, 
suspected  of  having  canvassed  for  a  Nationalist, 
was  very  thoroughly  boycotted.  Everywhere  I  met 
the  assumption  that  although  the  Catholics  of  one's 
own  acquaintance  might  be  very  agreeable  people, 
those  in  the  next  town,  or  in  the  South,  or  of  the 
lower  classes,  were  unspeakable  creatures,  danger- 
ous beyond  belief. 

Practically  every  strong  Unionist  I  met  was  quite 
convinced  that  the  Catholics  meant,  if  possible,  to 
take  their  houses  and  lands  from  them.  It  was  put 
crudely  by  a  workman.  "They  want  to  drive  us 
clean  out  of  the  country,  miss,  and  if  they  can't  do 
it  by  murdering,  they'll  do  it  by  persecution  of 
some  other  kind." 

"  'Tis  this  way  they'll  do  it,"  said  a  coachman. 
"Supposing  you  own  an  estate  here  like  Mrs.  C. 
Well,  they'll  pile  on  the  taxes  and  pile  them  on.  till 
you  can't  afford  to  stay  here  no  longer.  "Tis  the 
Liberal  Government  has  done  too  much  of  that 
already.  Many's  the  fine  gentleman  that  used  to 
keep  forty  hounds  or  more,  and  a  coachman  and 
three  or  four  grooms,  that  can't  live  on  his  land 
now  the  rents  are  half  what  they  used  to  be.  The 
Land  Acts  were  fine  for  the  farmers,  but  they 
weren't  so  good  for  the  working  people   that  used 

—26— 


IN    A    CONTESTED    ULSTER    COUNTY 


to  depend  on  the  grand  spending  of  the  gentry  to 
give  them  work.  And  'twill  be  worse  than  ever 
under  the  Catholics,  miss." 

Coming  from  the  United  States,  I  fear  I  did  not 
feel  sufficiently  sympathetic  with  the  gentleman  who 
used  to  keep  forty  hounds  and  now  is  driven  to 
work  for  his  living.  But  more  moving  arguments 
were  to  be  used.  Among  the  gentry  and  profes- 
sional people  I  found  stories  widely  current  of  lot- 
teries held  in  Catholic  chapels  in  which  the  houses 
of  wealthy  Protestants  had  been  raffled  ofif,  to  be- 
long to  the  winner,  "after  we  get  Home  Rule." 
Some  claimed  to  know  the  names  of  the  houses  and 
their  respective  owners;  others  told  of  visits  paid 
by  Catholic  tradesmen  to  homes  which  they  claimed 
to  have  won  in  the  lottery,  and  which  the}'  wanted 
to  look  over. 

".All,  'tis  a  story  for  Punch,"  exclaimed  the  lady 
from  Kerry  when  we  were  alone.  "If  you  want  to 
think  there's  any  Irishman  foolish  enought  to  believe 
he  could  get  another  man's  house  in  that  way — 
you  can  think  it.  And  would  any  priest  dare  run  a 
scheme  like  it?" 

True  or  not,  the  tale  was  widely  circulated  and 
believed  among  I'nionists;  tliough  wlien  pressed  for 
an  explanation,  they  admitted  that  it  must  have 
been  "only  the  very  lowest  class  who  were  thus 
deceived." 

A  young  woman  who  organized  clubs  among  the 
factory  girls  of  Belfast  told  me  that  every  night  in 
their  prayers  the  girls  praj'ed  that  the  Pope  might 
burn  in  Hell.  She  added  that  large  numbers  of 
them  were  paying  twopence  a-piece  to  join  a  Volun- 
teer  group. 

"As  nurses?"  I  asked. 

"As    anything.      They'll    throw    stones    if    nothing 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 

else  offers.     They've  been  told  by  their  leaders  that 
the  Catholics  want  their  jobs."' 

A  few  moments  later  she  remarked,  rather  irrele- 
vantly, that  "Belfast  was  much  quieter  now,  since 
we  drove  out  the  Catholics  two  years  ago." 

"Drove   them   out?     Where   to?" 

"Oh,  they  could  go  wliere  they  liked,"  she  said. 
"They  had  been  causing  disturl)ances,  so  all  their 
jobs  were  taken  away  and  they  had  to  move." 

■"Xo  wonder,"  thought  I,  "if  the  workers  who  were 
victorious  in  that  struggle  feared  a  Catholic  desire 
for   'their  jobs.'  " 

The  expectations  of  serious  struggle  varied  great- 
ly. I  never  met  a  Nationalist,  even  in  the  North, 
who  thought  there  would  be  war.  "And  who  would 
they  be  fighting?"  said  one.  "The  Nationalist  Vol- 
unteers don't  want  to  fight  them;  and  the  army,  God 
love  the  poor  creatures,  they  say  they  won't  fight 
them.  Likely  they  can  murder  a  few  poor  Catholics 
in  Derry  and  Belfast,  but  that  will  be  a  riot,  not 
war." 

The  LTnionists  I  met  were  divided  into  two  groups 
— those  who  wanted  war  unless  Ulster  were  ex- 
cluded, and  those  who,  while  hating  the  thought  of 
Home  Rule,  craved  "anything  rather  than  war." 
This  last  group  seemed  by  far  the  largest,  yet  even 
they  seemed  ([uite  sure  that  unless  Ulster  was  ex- 
cluded serious  times  were  at  hand. 

A  charming  old  lady,  a  L'nionist,  but  a  lover  of 
peace,  said  to  me:  "My  son  is  second  in  command 
of  the  Volunteers  in  this  county.  He  doesn't  tell 
me  much  of  their  plans,  but  when  my  gardener  and 
cook  left  last  week,  he  said:  'Don't  hire  any  more 
servants,  but  let  your  house  if  you  can.  We  may  be 
upon  the  edge  of  a  precipice.'  " 

—28— 


IN    A    CONTESTED    ULSTER    COUNTY 


"But  what  would  start  the  war?"  I  asked,  again 
and  again. 

"Well,  there  might  be  some  riots  on  July  12,"  said 

some. 

•'There  was  a  Nationalist  parade  in  town  last 
night,  and  several  people  had  their  heads  cut  open 
and  lilled  my  office  to  have  stitches  taken,"  said  a 
doctor. 

"There'll  he  some  rioting  now  and  again,"  was 
the  general  opinion,  "but  the  thing  that  will  really 
start  the  war  is  this:  Sir  Edward  Carson  will  set 
up  a  Government  in  Belfast,  and  Redmond  will  send 
down  from  Dublin  to  collect  taxes,  and  we  won't 
pay  them.  Then  he'll  send  a  force  to  compel  us, 
and  we'll  have  war." 

"Hut   suppose  he  doesn't  send  a  force?" 

"Then  there'll  be  two  Governments,  one  in  the 
north,  and   one   in   the   south." 

This  suggestion  of  two  Governments  brought  up 
a  question  which  I  am  sure  was  not  understood  in 
America,  possibly  not  in  England.  What  was  this 
"Ulster"  which  so  passionately  hated  control  l)y 
the  rest  of  Ireland?  Was  it  the  majority  vote  of 
Ulster,  or  the  business  interests  of  Ulster?  The 
majority  of  the  Ulster  counties  voted  at  the  last 
election  for  Home  Rule. 

It  was  extremely  hard  to  i)in  an  Ulster  Volunteer 
down  t(i  an  explanation  of  this  fact.  "All  the  best 
people  want   exclusion."  said  a  Volunteer. 

".\h.  well,  there's  a  lot  of  ignorant  workmen  who 
might  outvote  us,  but  all  the  men  of  property  are 
Unionists." 

Or.  "the  rotten  Protestants  of  I'.eltast — they  voted 
for  l)e\lin  because  he  made  Iiig  promises  of  better- 
ing iheir  eonditidus.  The)'  would  know  better 
now." 

—29— 


W 


o 


Q 


W 
I— I 
H 


w 

E-i 

O 

2: 

> 
w 

>^ 

H 
I— I 

O 
< 


C/3 


H 

CO 


2: 


ox       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


At  last  [  ;40t  a  straight  statement  from  a  business 
man.  "Wliat  do  you  mean  by  'Ulster'  when  you 
tell  me  that  Ulster  wants  exclusion?  Do  you  mean 
the  majority  of  the  citizens  of  Ulster?" 

He  hesitated,  then  answered  frankly;  "I  mean 
the  rich  men  of  Ulster,  the  rich  industries  of  Ulster, 
the  people  who  have  made  the  prosperity  of  the 
country.  They  need  credit  in  order  to  carry  on 
their  industries.  They — or  perhaps  I  should  say 
we — can  get  better  credit  when  we  have  the  English 
Parliament  behind  us  than  we  could  with  an  Irish 
Parliament.  That's  the  whole  point;  wc  think  busi- 
ness will  prosper  l)ettcr  under  the  Union  than  under 
Home  Rule." 

That  seemed,  in  fact,  to  be  the  final  argument  of 
the  Orangeman.  Opposed  to  the  glowing  sentiment 
of  the  south  and  west,  sentiment  that  has  been 
giithering  volume  for  more  than  a  century,  that 
sings  its  heroes  and  crowns  its  martyrs,  sentiment 
that  had  perhaps  not  worked  out  in  great  detail  the 
changes  it  desired,  beyond  the  one  heart-cry;  "Give 
us  a  Government  that  shall  be  our  own,  and  we 
shall  rebuild  a  nation  out  of  tiic  dust;"  opposed  to 
this  came  no  equally  glowing  sentiment  for  a  Union, 
but  a  careful  business  caution,  full  of  questionings, 
fears,  and  with  one  firmly  bitter  determination,  that 
none  of  its  possessions  should  be  taken  from  it. 
"They'll  tax  us  more."  "'i'liey  want  our  jolis." 
"Home  Rule  will  destroy  our  credit."  "Home  Rule 
will  bankrupt  the  country.''  "The  business  we  have 
created  shall  not  be  ruled  l)y  law  made  by  the  im- 
provident, the  unsuccessful  populace."  "Why  have 
they  upset  things  when  everything  was  going  to 
suit  us?"  "What  Catholic  country  has  prospered 
financially?"      These   are   the   arguments   one    heard. 

But  as   far  as  the  Volunteers   are  concerned,   the 

— :i— 


IX    A    CONTESTED    ULSTER    CO  C  X  T  V 


general  feelint;  tliat  tlie  discipline  under  wliicli  they 
were  held  had  served  rather  to  prevent  riots  than 
to  encourage  them,  was  expressed  by  the  county 
inspector  of  police  in  a  much  disputed  county. 

"You'll  l)e  having  your  hands  full,"  I  said,  "be- 
tween Ulster  Volunteers  and  the  Xational  Volun- 
teers." 

"Xot  at  all,  not  at  all."  he  rejoined  cheerfully. 
"Sure,  the  more   they  drill,  the   less  they  tight." 


—32— 


The  "Armed  Camps" 

"Going  to  Belfast  for  the  twelfth,  are  you?  I 
hope  you'll  return   alive." 

It  was  an  echo  of  the  fear  I  had  heard  expressed 
before  leaving  America.  "Going  to  Ireland  for  the 
summer?  Aren't  y(Ui  afraid  of  the  war?"  It  was 
also  an  echo  of  the  four  letters  received  from  Eng- 
land l)y  my  companion  imploring  her  not  to  risk 
her  life  in  tlie  dangerous  Xorth.  The  newspapers 
on  lioth  sides  of  the  Atlantic  seemed  Idled  with  the 
idea  that  Ireland  consisted  of  "two  armed  camps," 
dangerous  even  to  the  harndess  traveler.  "Sure, 
and  it's  their  job  to  furnish  exciting  news,"  as  an 
Irish    friend    remarked. 

"I'm  going,"  1  answered,  "to  sec  four  tliousand 
Irisii  Volunteers  on  Sunday,  the  CJrange  procession 
in  Belfast  on  Monday,  and  the  battle  of  Scarva  on 
Tuesday.  By  that  time  1  ought  to  l)e  full  of  news 
from  the  seat  of  war!" 

"You  musn't  wear  that  blouse  on  Sunday,"  said  a 
cautious  friend,  indicating  a  harmless  red  and  brown 
garment.  "It's  too  near  orange.  You'll  be  in  the 
midst  of  a   Nationalist  celebration." 

Thus  began  my  visit  to  the  I'irst  of  the  "armed 
camps."  Sunday  afternoon  found  me  at  the  leading 
Xatiduaiist  humc  in  a  village  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  the-  pipiTs  who  were  to  lead  the  jjrocession  to 
tlie  "feis."  Down  the  long  avenue  they  came,  bear- 
ing above  them  a  white  banner  with  a  red  hand  upon 
it — the  famous  "red  hand  of  Ulster,"  And  in  their 
costumes,  mingUd  with  green  and  blue,  were  colors 
tar  nearer  to  the  "dangerous  orange"  than  my  un- 
offending blouse   would  ha\e  been. 

—33— 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


"It's  an  Ulster  hand,"  1  was  told,  "down  from 
Monaghan  to  help   with  the   celebration." 

In  a  large  field  were  gathered  some  ten  thou- 
sand people  to  join  in  tlic  "feis,"  the  name  given 
to  a  large  popular  festival.  Babies  tumbled  in  the 
grass,  mothers  spread  out  the  picnic  lunch  for  their 
families,  vendors  of  soda-pop  and  sweets  cried  their 
wares,  and  on  a  platform  in  a  corner  an  ancient 
ballad   singer  was   chanting  to  an   interested  crowd. 


"TlilS    YEAR    WE    HAVE    WITH    US   4,000   H^ISH 
VOLUNTEERS" 

But  the  ballad  itself  was  not  ancient — it  was  a  song 
of  "Home   ivule": 

"Arise,  you  gallant  young  Irishmen,  and 

Ring   the    land    with    cheers. 
Hurrah!   Hurrah!  at  last  we  have   formed 
The   Irish   Volunteers." 
The  main  platform  in  the  center  of  the   field  was 
surrounded   by   a   larger  crowd.     Upon   it   groups   of 
children     were     engaging     in     contests     of     national 
dances  and   songs. 

—34— 


THE  "  A    R    I^I    E    D  CAMPS" 


At  last  tlic  speaker  of  the  day  arose.  He  spoke 
of  ancient  Ireland  and  the  irisli  language;  of 
national  feeling  and  patriotism,  and  he  warned  his 
hearers  that  they  were  only  at  the  heginning  of  the 
building  of  their  nation,  that  Home  Rule  was  a 
necessary  tirst  step  which  would  go  for  nought  un- 
less it  was  followed  by  years  of  patient,  self-deny- 
ing, constructive  statesmanship  by  Irishmen.  He 
concluded:  "Last  year  we  expressed  our  national 
feelings  through  competitions  in  the  Irish  language. 
This  year  we  have   with   us  4,000   Irish   Volunteers." 

.\  deafening  cheer  split  the  air,  answered  by  the 
round  of  drums,  and  the  review  began. 

Down  the  iield  they  marched,  one  hundred 
abreast,  tall,  straight,  well-formed,  strong  men.  1 
had  seen  the  review  of  the  Regulars  on  the  King's 
birthday;  they  had  marched  no  better  than  many 
of  the  lines  of  Volunteers.  "They  have  been  drill- 
ing only  a  few  weeks,"  marveled  a  military  man  be- 
side me,  "rnd  they  do  work  wh-ch  the  Regulars 
barely  equal  in  a  year.  I  can  only  account  for  it 
by  the  fact  that  they  have  behind  them  a  tremen- 
dous wave  of  national  feeling  which  stinuilates  their 
jiowers  of  attention  to  the  last  degree.  It  is  a  thing 
any  land  might  In-  proud  of,  the  spirit  that  has 
formed  the  Volunteers." 

They  marched,  wheeled,  marched  back,  and  lined 
vp  to  hear  an  address  on  the  value  of  discipline. 
Then  they  dispersed,  and  there  began  a  friendly 
hurling  match  between  two  county  tt'ams,  one  of 
them  from  I'lster.  .And  the  children  went  on  play- 
ing, the  ballad  singer  went  on  singing,  the  coun'y 
gentry  departed  for  tea.  This  was  tlie  lirst  of  the 
two   "armed   camps," 

The  following  day  1  reached  Belfast,  and  motored 
out  towards   I)ruml)eg.     Surely  here  there  would  be 

—35- 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


signs  of  civil  war,  here  in  the  "black  north,"  at  the 
famous  procession  of  the  Orangemen,  addressed  by 
Sir  Edward  Carson.  "Cover  up  that  green  belt," 
said  a  friend,  "if  you  don't  want  to  be  pelted  with 
stones." 

Mile  after  mile  stretched  the  procession;  hour 
after  hour  it  passed.  I  noticed  especially  the  num- 
ber of  green  sweaters  among  the  women  who  fol- 
lowed it.  And  held  aloft  were  banners  of  orange 
and  red  and  blue  and  green — yes,  numberless  ban- 
ners of  green.  "Ah,  well,  green  is  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal Orange   colors  I"   said  an  Ulsterman. 

The  majority  of  the  banners  bore  inscriptions  with 
the  words  "Total  Al)stinence"  or  "Temperance" 
Loyal  Order  Lodge.  I  might  have  believed  myself 
watching  a  temperance  procession  instead  of  the 
beginning  of  war,  if  tlie  newspapers  had  not  warned 
me   to   the   contrary. 

My  host  was  one  of  those  people  especially  sin- 
gled out  for  Orange  hatred,  a  Protestant  National- 
ist, and  he  was  known  and  recognized  by  many  in 
the  procession,  yet  he  dodged  his  motor  through 
the  crowd,  slipped  into  a  gap  in  the  parade,  and 
followed  the  bands  and  banners  for  a  mile  or  two, 
unmolested  save  for  the  men  who  carried  contribu- 
tion  boxes    for   "Orange   widows   and   orphans." 

Through  ennrmous  crov.ds,  acros.s  ditches,  hedges 
and  fields,  and  under  wire  ferccs,  we  fought  our 
N^ay  after  leaving  the  motor,  till  we  came  to  the 
lield  where  Sir   Edward  Carson  was  speaking. 

A  volley  of  blank  cartridges  saluted  him  from 
scattered  spots  in  the  crowd.  A  throng  of  thou- 
sands pressed  near  to  hear  him  speak. 

I'ut  on  tlu^  outskirts  of  the  crowd  were  children 
asleep  in  the  sun,  young  men  and  maidens  making 
love   by   the   hedges,   and   mothers   laying   out  lunch. 


THE 


ARMED 


CAMPS" 


An  aiiihulance  wagon  of  the  Ulster  Volunteers,  who. 
while  not  marching  officially  in  the  Orange  proces- 
sion, furnished  a  large  iiun]l)er  of  the  individual 
marchers,  stood  on  a  little  rise  of  ground.  I 
glanced  inside;  it  was  full  of  soda-pop  for  the  tem- 
perate and   loyal   Orange   Lodges. 

And   tliis   was   the  second  "armed  camp." 

On  the  following  day  we  motored  to  Scarva,  the 
scene  of  the  famous  drumming  contests  and  the 
sham  l)attle  of  tlie  Boyne — mile  after  mile  of  peace- 
ful country   roads. 

■'I  read  in  tlie  papers."  I  remarked,  "tiiat  one  can't 
go  anywhere  in  the  country  districts  of  I'lster  with- 
out  hearing  riHe-i)racticc." 

"Motoring  all  over  the  north  for  the  past  two 
years,"  was  the  answer,  "1  have  only  twice  seen 
or  heard  Ulster  Volunteers  i)y  accident.  Of  course, 
if  you  go  looking  for  them  you  can  find  tliem." 

.\t  Scarva  we  saw  tlic  wild  ( )rangeman  at  home. 
.'\iid  very  much  at  home  he  seemed,  with  his  wife, 
his  sons  and  daughters,  and  his  drumming.  The 
Orange  drum  is  larger  and  lighter  than  the  ordi- 
nary  drum,  and  is  beaten  by  the  fiat  of  a  long  cane, 
manipulated  by  a  wrist  motion,  wliicli  cuts  the  wrists 
on    the   edge   of  tiie   drum,   so   that    they   l)leed, 

.\  continous  wall  of  sound  arose  from  the  field 
all  day  as  the  drumming  contests  progressed.  Tliree 
policemen  sat  on  a  stone  wall  to  watch.  "Sure. 
there's  one  thin^L;  that  would  mean  civil  war,"  said 
orie,  'if  the  Dublin  Parliament  should  make  a  law 
against    drumming." 

King  William  and  King  janus,  clad  resi)ectively 
in  red  and  green,  marched  forth  with  twenty  men 
ap;ece,  and  were  duly  photograplud  ln'fore  pro- 
ct  ((ling  to  the   field. 

"I'd   like,''    1    said,   "to   send   a   picture   of   them    to 


-i7- 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


an  English  paper,  and  call  it  'Civil  War  in  Ireland— 
the  Battle  of  the  Boyne.'  " 

"Ah.  and  they'd  think  it  was  true,"  said  the  po- 
liceman.    "It's  too  easy — fooling  an   Englishman." 

And   this   was   the   third   "armed   camp." 

"Not  that  I'd  he  doubting  the  courage  of  any 
Irishman,"  as  a  lady  from  the  South  remarked,  even 
while   declaring  that  there  would   l^e  no  war. 

Nor  would  I  appear  to  doubt  the  courage,  the 
sincerity,  or  the  seriousness  that  tilled  both  Ulster 
and  Irish  Volunteers.  They  were,  and  arc  still, 
strong  men  with  strong  convictions.  In  spite  of  the 
signing  of  the  Home  Rule  Bill  and  the  cessation 
of  conflict  in  view  of  a  world  calamity,  a  real  con- 
test still  lies  ahead.  Softened  it  may  be  by  a  com- 
mon peril  and  still  more  by  a  common  sorrow,  as 
word  comes  bsck  from  the  continent  to  make  deso- 
late homes  of  North  and  South  alike  with  the  death 
of  Ulstermen,  Munstermen,  Leinstermcn,  Con- 
naughtmen,  in  common  trenches,  facing  a  common 
foe.  But  when  the  war  is  over,  and  the  Amending 
Bill  cDmes  up  for  action,  let  no  one  suppose  it  will 
l)e  without  conflict  and  bitterness. 

But  human  nature  is  contradictory,  and  the  Irish 
are  more  human  than  most.  Even  at  the  height  of 
the  bitterness  one  found  a  strange  primitive  sanity. 
And  between  the  two  Volunteer  forces,  when  the 
tension  was  greatest,  were  gleams  of  mutual  under- 
standing and  appreciation  what  would  seem  in- 
credible to  an    Englishman. 

To  an  Englishman  both  the  Volunteer  forces 
were  illegal  armies,  and  their  very  existence  a  dan- 
ger to  law  and  order.  Logically  the  Englishman 
was  correct,  but  humanly  he  was  very  far  astraj'. 
Practically  every  Irishman  I  have  met.  on  either 
side,   was   absolutely  sure  of  certain  points: 


T    H    E  "  A    R    AI    E    D  CAMPS" 


1.  Tliat  I)<)tli  Volunteer  forces  were  good  for  the 
men  and  were  reducing  drunkenness  and  even  the 
normal  Saturday  night  rows. 

2.  That  hoth  were  the  expression,  as  far  as  rank 
and  I'lle  are  concerned,  of  the  same  fundamental 
feeling,  a  determination  not  to  l)e  dictated  to  hy 
England,  nor  made  the  football  lietween  English 
parties. 

"If  the  lirilish  Army  should  attack  Ulstermen,  the 
Irish  Volunteers  would  help  Ulster."  I  was  told  hy 
no  less  than  tliree  prominent  organizers  among 
the  Irish  Volunteers.  If  this  seems  a  bit  bewilder- 
ing to  the  logical  Briton,  let  him  call  to  mind  what 
happens  when  husband  and  wife  are  fighting  and 
an   outsider  dares   interfere. 

"I  am  told  that  tiie  Nationalist  farmers  loaned 
motors  for  the  Lister  gun-running  at  I.arne,"  I 
said  to  a  N'orthern  Nationalist.  "And  would  again," 
he  retorted.  "Tliey  were  proud  cf  tlie  national  feel- 
ing displayed  by  the  Ulstermen  in  daring  to  outwit 
the  English.  The  gun-running  was  a  wonderful  lark, 
a   battle  of    Irish   wits  against    luiglish  wits." 

"Were  you  one  of  them?"   I  asked. 

"No,  but  I  should  have  been  if  I'd  known  how 
much   good   it   would   do." 

"Good?"    I    inquired. 

"It  helped  to  call  the  Irish  Volunteers  into  being," 
he  explaiiu'd,  in  tones  which  assumed  that  that  must 
be  considered  by  all  an  uncjuestioned  good.  It  is 
not  in  such  tones  that  one  deprecates  "an  illegal 
army." 

.'Xn  Irishman  from  a  northern  village  told  me 
that  the  Ulster  and  Irish  Volunteers  there,  neither 
having  a  full  battalion,  had  joined  forces  on  special 
occasions  for  battalion  drill.  "In  at  least  three 
towns,"    said   a    lielfast    dcjctor,    "1    know   of    nurses' 

—39— 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


corps  in  which  lioth  sides  liave  comhincd  to  divide 
the  expense  of  an  instructor." 

These  were  but  gleams,  of  course.  There  was 
much  traditional  religious  bitterness.  Vile  songs 
of  a  quite  unprintal)le  character  were  being  sold  in 
Belfast — -songs  which  would  provoke  riot  in  any 
city  with  their  nasty  allusions  to  priests  and  nuns. 
(T  have  found  no  ol)jectiona1)le  literature  in  Na- 
tionalist Ireland.)  And  the  bitterness  was  fanned 
into  rtanie  and  carefully  encouraged  l)y  leaders  like 
a  man  pointed  out  to  me  by  a  friend:    "There  goes 

Lord ;  he  hasn't  lived  in   Ireland  long,  and 

I  happen  to  know  alisolutely  that  he  has  no  belief 
at  all  in  this  Roman  bogy.  And  he's  leading  in  the 
stirring  up  of  Protestant  ill-feeling." 

Yet  across  the  bitterness  came  gleams  of  human 
sanity  and  of  mutual  admiration   and   tolerance. 

"Of  course  we  wouldn't  think  of  parading  near 
the  twelfth,"  .'aid  some  Irish  Volunteers.  "The 
Orangemen  wouldn't  like  it;  they'd  think  we  meant 
to  insult  them.  .But  when  the  twelfth  has  all  blown 
over,  we're  thinking  they  won't  mind  our  march- 
ing down  the  road  to  Belfast,  as  they've  done  l)e- 
fore  us." 

And  a  prominent  Belfast  man  remarked:  "In  all 
my  life  in  Belfast  there's  never  been  a  time  when 
the  relations  between  North  and  South  seemed  to 
me  so  hopeful  as  in  tlie  past  si.x  months,  since  the 
forming  of  the  Irish  Volunteers.  The  North  re- 
spects the  South,  for  the  first  time  in  generations. 
The  North  even  feels  flattered  that  the  rest  of  Ire- 
land has  followed  its  lead  in  organizing  for  its 
rights.  And  the  South  admires  the  North  for  show- 
ing it  the  way.  When  such  respect  and  admiration 
exist  the  end  may  be  far  off  and  hard  to  attain,  but 
it   is   in   sight." 

—10— 


T    H    F.  "  A    R    :\I    E    D  CAMPS" 

An  amusing  event,  wc  found,  occurred  on  the  road 
to  Scarva,  an  event  typically  Irish,  ([uite  illogical 
and  uncon\  entionai,  hut  liunian  and  sensil^le,  an 
event  which  augurs  well  for  the  simple  and  direct 
way  in  which  the  Irishman,  left  to  himself,  may  set- 
tle  his  own   disputes. 

The  main  way  from  the  Xorth  passes  over  some 
rising  ground  owned  by  the  Catholics,  and  for  gen- 
erations it  has  been  the  tradition  that  the  Orange 
procession  should  not  come  that  way.  Individual 
Orangemen  may  go,  but  they  must  make  no  demon- 
stration. 

On     this     occasion,     Lord    ,     an     Orange 

leader,  was  motoring  down  from  Belfast,  flying  a 
Union  Jack  (now  arrogated  by  Unionists  to  the  uses 
of  a  party  emblem)  above  his  car.  He  came  to 
the   Catholic  hill. 

■■.\nd  what  do  you  think  happened?"  said  my 
informant. 

"The  Nationalists  tore  it  down,"  guessed  one, 
"and  then  he  posed  as  a  martyr."  "The  Nationalists 
cheered  it  and  saluted,"  guessed  another,  "and  then 
he  thought  he  had  beaten  them." 

"Wrong,"  he  replied,  "the  police  stopped  him  and 
removed   it." 


-41- 


Out  of  the  Past 


"If  you  can  give  me  a  single  reason  for  having 
Home  Rule,  I'd  be  glad  to  consider  it.  I'm  perfect- 
ly open-minded,"  said  my  Dublin  host  at  dinner, 
in  tones  that  belied  his  words.  "Will  taxes  be 
less?  Will  the  government  be  more  economically 
managed?     I've  found  no  one  yet  who  has  a  reason." 

One  does  not  like  to  argue  with  one's  host  when 
he  speaks  in  tones  of  such  determination.  Yet,  as 
his  words  were  going  quite  unchallenged,  I  ven- 
tured slowly,  "You  should  have  heard  the  country 
people  on  the  West  Coast  talk.  Or  you  should 
have  watched  the  Volunteers  last  Sunday  on  the 
route  march  to  Killiney.  I'm  told  they  pay  three- 
pence to  be  allowed  to  drill, — men  who  have  worked 
all  day  for  a  couple  of  shillings.  They  must  have 
reasons." 

"No  logical  ones,"  he  answered.  "This  Home 
Rule  enthusiasm  is  all  sentiment,  popular  sentiment. 
Even  the  advocates  of  the  bill  aren't  satisfied  with 
it.  except  as  an  opening  wedge.  But  something 
must   be   done  to   still   the   popular  clamor." 

My  thoughts  raced  back  to  the  tenant  farmers  and 
the  Volunteers.  I  knew  little  of  high  finance,  or 
economy  in  government.  And  then  I  remembered 
the  words  of  a  Limerick  man: 

"I  may  be  very  fond  of  a  friend,  and  a  great 
admirer  of  his  business  methods,  but  I  don't  want 
him  to  run  my  household.  Let  me  be  master  in 
my  own  home." 

After  all,  it  was  sentiment.  Practical  sense  there 
must  have  been,  also;  sound  financiers  and  adminis- 


A     KOLTE     .MAK(  II      In     klLLlAhV 


MKN   WHO   HAN-K    \V(JRKED    ALL    \).\\    I'OK    TWO    SIllL- 
LINCS    I'AV    THREE    PENCE    TO    BE    ALLOWED 

TO    nRH.L 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOAIE       RULE 

trators  were  on  both  sides  of  the  question.  Ex- 
perts disagreed — it's  the  way  with  experts.  But  the 
real  reason  was  not  a  penny  in  the  tax-rate.  The 
real  reason — I  faced  it  proudly — was  sentiment,  the 
sentiment  that  causes  all  individuals  and  all  na- 
tions, when  they  deem  themselves  full-grown,  to 
say:  "Hands  off,  we  manage  our  own  affairs." 
"Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death,"  these  were  the 
words  of  an   Irishman. 

Out  of  the  past  has  grown  this  sentiment;  its 
roots  are  deep  in  history.  Few  lands  are  so  steeped 
in  tradition  as  Ireland.  The  Cromwellian  planta- 
tions, the  cruel  jest,  "Drive  them  to  hell  or  Con- 
naught,"  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne,  the  Act  of  Union, 
— these  are  spoken  of  as  if  they  had  occurred  yes- 
terday. Present  political  convictions  in  Ireland 
are  the  heritage  of  the  past. 

"My  conversion  to  Nationalism,"  said  a  promi- 
nent otiicial  in  the  Volunteers,  "dates  from  the  Land 
Agitation.  I  was  a  North  of  Ireland  man,  a  strong 
L^nionist.  During  my  Oxford  vacation  I  traveled 
in  Donegal  with  my  tutor.  I  was  greatly  impressed 
Ijy  the  peasants,  their  soundness,  good  cheer  and 
intelligence. 

"One  evening  the  word  came  that  several 
evictions  would  take  place  on  the  following  day. 
We  went  to  see  them.  Of  course,  we  could  do  noth- 
ing to  help;  we  were  law-abiding  citizens.  But  the 
scenes  were  heart-rending.  Women  and  children 
weeping,  sick  people  lying  by  the  roadside,  more 
than  a  dozen  families  turned  out  of  the  homes  of 
their  ancestors  that  the  landlord  might  have  a  large 
pasture-field. 

"Then  overnight  the  peasants  went  back  to  their 
homes,  and,  acting  on  legal  advice,  closed  doors 
and    windows   and    refused    to    answer.      This    made 

—44— 


St" 


W«f!\^'';    I     W.  -»■ 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


the  swearing  out  of  warrants  necessary,  and  for 
some  reason  the  authorities  hesitated.  But  they 
placed  sentries  before  each  cottage,  with  instruc- 
tion to  take  possession  as  soon  as  the  place  was 
opened. 

"It  was  a  pitiful  situation.  Men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, sick  and  well,  confined  almost  without  food 
in  their  own  homes,  fearing  to  open  the  door  lest 
they  lose  their  dwelling-place  forever.  On  the  sec- 
ond day  I  could  stand  it  no  longer.  I  got  a  bag, 
filled  it  with  bread,  meat  and  potatoes,  and  went 
from  house  to  house,  thrusting  the  food  through 
doors  which  I   liastily  opened  and  shut. 

"  'You  are  defying  the  law,'  a  sentry  warned  me. 
I  didn't  believe  it,  and  didn't  care.  I  came  that 
evening  with  a  jaunting  car  full  of  provisions,  and 
was  arrested  on  the  charge  of  'breaking  and  en- 
tering' without  owner's  consent.  This  was  too 
ironical  to  stand,  and  was  changed  next  day  to  the 
charge  of  encouraging  law-breaking.  I  refused  to 
pay  the  fine  imposed  and  was  sent  to  jail.  I  have 
been  a  violent   Nationalist  ever  since.'' 

Sentiment  again!  Logic  might  easily  have  shown 
that  land  laws  may  be  improved  and  have  been  im- 
proved without  Home  Rule.  But  the  facts  remain 
tliat  the  men  who  formed  the  Land  League  were 
also  the  men  who  worked  for  Home  Rule.  The 
present  can  be  rightly  seen  only  in  the  shadow  of 
the  past. 

More  ancient  still  was  the  history  tliat  haunted 
my  hostess  in  old  Limerick, — "Limerick  famed  of 
all,  for  its  well-defended  wall."  She  showed  me 
the  treaty-stone  on  which  was  signed  the  treaty, 
won  through  the  great  courage  and  heroism  of  a 
city  al)andoned  by  its  French  allies.  The  treaty 
was  broken  before  the  ink  was  dry.     She  led  me  to 


OUT  OF  THE  PAST 

old  St.  Mary's,  once  a  castle,  then  a  Catholic  church, 
then  taken  over  by  Protestant  conquerors.  There 
are  very  few  Protestants  in  Limerick,  but  the  hand- 
some historic  churches  are  reserved  for  their  use, 
while  the  many  descendants  of  the  race  who  built 
and  dedicated  them  are  shut  out. 

"I  don't  mind  their  having  fine  new  buildings," 
said  my  hostess,  "but  the  old  ones  were  sacred  to 
our  faith.  And  the  old  altar-stone,  rough-hewn,  on 
which  mass  was  first  said  in  our  ancient  city,  is 
only  a  curio  in  their  halls,  instead  of  being  used  as 
we  should  use  it." 

Later  in  the  evening  my  host  took  me  to  his 
study  and  brought  out  statistics  and  records.  "I 
want  to  show  you,"  he  said,  "what  we  mean  by  the 
Protestant  Ascendancy.  This  is  a  directory  of 
County  Limerick  ofiicials.  I'll  check  ofif  the  religion 
of  each  man.  And  bear  in  mind  that  the  common 
people  of  Limerick  are  so  exclusively  Catholic  that 
there  are  22,037  children  in  Catholic  National 
schools  and   802   in   Protestant    National   schools." 

We  went  through  the  list.  The  Lord  Lieutenant 
(it  the  County  was  a  Protestant ;  the  high  sheriff 
and  county  inspector  of  police  were  Protestants.  The 
county  court  judge  was  a  Catholic.  Only  one-fifth 
of  the  members  of  the  latest  grand  jury  were  Cath- 
olics. Of  163  magistrates,  86  were  Catliolics,  slight- 
ly more  than  half. 

"Until  within  the  last  few  years,"  said  my  host, 
"tlie  majority  of  magistrates  in  every  Catholic  coun- 
ty in  Ireland  has  been  Protestant.  There  is  a  rea- 
son for  this.  Through  the  centuries  the  Catholic 
gentry  were  oppressed,  dispossessed  and  driven  out 
so  effectually  that  most  people  of  social  position, 
even   in   tlie   Catliolic  counties,  are   Protestant.     And 

-AT— 


ox       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


ofiicials  are  appointed  chiefly  from  th's  class.  But 
tliere  is  an  increasing  nunif)cr  of  Catholics,  who 
have  given  creditable  service  in  County  Councils, 
who  should  now  be  eligiljle  for  official  appoint- 
ments. 

"I  am  far  from  asking,"'  he  went  on,  "that  re- 
ligion should  be  made  cither  a  qualification  or  a 
disciualilication.  I  have  known  Catholic  County 
Councils  who  appointed  a  man  as  county  surveyor 
on  the  pulilished  reason  that  he  was  a  Protestant, 
and  they  wished  to  give  due  place  to  their  Protes- 
tant ncighliors.  I  have  no  patience  with  such  an 
attitude.  A  man  should  be  appointed  for  efficiency, 
not  for  religion.  But  when  the  people  of  a  county 
are  of  one  religion,  and  their  officials  are  uniformly 
cf  another,  it  leads  to  a  bad  situation.  I  am  com- 
plaining against  no  one,  merely  pointing  out  the 
danger. 

'■\\'hen  a  small  group  of  gentry  going  to  their  own 
chr.rch  every  Sunday,  drive  through  the  wdiole 
Catholic  population  going  to  another  church,  the 
stage  is  set  for  a  revolution.  Barriers  of  race  and 
class  breed  misunderstandings  enough;  when  you 
add  the  barrier  of  religion  there  is  no  common 
ground  left.  Yet  some  common  ground  must  be 
found;  the  alternative  is  too  horrible.  I  pray  that 
under  Home  Rule,  working  side  by  side,  we  may 
hnd  that  common  ground  in  the  service  of  a  com- 
mon  country." 

I  marveled  at  his  conclusion.  Xo  resentment, 
though  resentment  would  have  been  excusable;  no 
desire  for  a  Catholic  ascendancy  to  take  the  place 
of  the  Protestant  one.  Merely  a  prayer  for  brother- 
hood, a  desire  to  heal  the  breach.  Wherever  I  went 
in  Ireland  it  was  the  same.  I  searched  carefully  for 
signs  of  Catholic  intolerance  in  the  South  and  \^'est 


O     U    T 


O     F 


THE 


P     A     S     T 


and    East,    expecting    it    as    only    liunian,    luit    iiever 
finding  it. 

In  cMie  C()nnt\"  a  Unionist  land-agent,  a  Protestant, 
was  elected  for  t\\  elve  successive  years  to  the  Coun- 
ty Council  ])y  a  Catholic  Xationalist  tenantry.  "He 
was  the  l)est  man  running,"  they  f-aid,  when  asked 
why  they  were  represented  Ijy  a  man  wlio  differed 
with  them  on  three  points.  In  the  twelfth  year, 
when  Unionist  papers  were  nuiking  liitter  charges 
of  Catholic  intolerance,  he  was  asked  by  his  con- 
stituents to  write  a  letter  to  the  papers  giving  his 
own  experience.  He  refused.  He  was  not  re-elect- 
ed. After  that  his  case  was  cited  as  a  sad  example 
of  Catholics  throwing  out  a  Protestant,  fkit  who 
cast  the  hrst  stone.  He  had  allowed  statements  to  go 
unchallenged  wdiich  injured,  not  only  the  reputa- 
tion of  his  constituents,  hut  the  cause  of  Home 
Rule,  on   which   tluy  had   set   their  hearts. 

It  was  the  Xorthern  Protestant,  not  the  Southern 
Catholic,  wIto  insisted  upon  mixing  religion  and 
politics.  A  hot-headed  Kerryman  was  telling  me 
of  a  priest  who  had  been  ri'moved  to  a  distant  cinui- 
ty.  In  the  discussion  the  fact  came  out  that  he  had 
been  making  re\'olutionary  speeches  to  the  Volun- 
teers, criticising  the  Irish  Party  and  advocating 
physical   force, 

"May  the  devil  tly  away  with  him  to  (/ape  Horn 
or   farther,"   said   the    Kerryman. 

"Ccme  now,"  said  I,  "it's  a  i)riest  you're  talking 
about." 

"Pxe  noihing  to  say  to  an\-  man.  jiriest  or  no," 
he  replied,  "who  ])re1ends  to  be  for  the  people  of 
Ireland  and  works  against  the  Irish  Party.  Let 
him  kei'])  to  his  own  business;  I'll  follow  him 
there.      Hut  it's    Uednioud    I   follow  for   llome    Rule." 

This   man   was  a   de\-out   Catholic.      In   no   iiart   of 


-49- 


ON       THE       E\'E       OF       HOME       RULE 


the  world,  in  fact,  have  I  seen  such  religious  devo- 
tion as  in  the  South  of  Ireland.  Hour  after  hour 
on  Sunday  the  churches  are  crowded;  I  have  seen 
even  the  aisles  filled  with  kneeling  men  and  boys. 
On  weekdays  I  have  noticed  two  hundred  people 
at  an  ordinary  "early  mass."  Religious  faith  enters 
deeply  into  the  life  of  the  people.  When  the  wife 
of  a  popular  county  gentleman  was  dangerously  ill, 
every  household  for  miles  around  said  rosaries  for 
her,  "storming  heaven"  for  her  recovery.  But — • 
let  not  the  priest  interfere  with  the  Irish  Party. 
"That's  not  his  business,"   said   the    Kerryman. 

Over  against  this  I  set  another  anecdote  of  re- 
ligion  and   politics,    showing  the   typically   northern 

point    of   view.      Some   years   ago,    Lord    E ,    a 

Catholic  peer,  took  in  to  dinner  at  the  Castle  a  lady 
from  Belfast.  Accustomed  to  meeting  only 
Protestants  at  the  Viceregal  table,  she  momentarily 
forgot  the  religion  of  her  escort. 

"I  hear  the  Catholics  down  your  way  have  been 
getting  quite  decent  lately,  really  quite  tolerant," 
she   said. 

"How   so?" 

"I'm  told  tlicy've  elected  one  of  us  as  mayor  of 
Limerick." 

"Ah,  A^es,"  lie  replied,  "we  have  a  Protestant 
mayor  in  Limerick.  I  suppose  liefore  long  you'll  be 
electing  a   Catholic   mayor  in   Belfast." 

The  lady's  face  went  white  with  anger.  She 
brought  down  two  clenched  firsts  on  the  Viceregal 
table. 

"Never,  never,"  she  said. 


-50- 


In  Kerry  after  the  Dublin 
Disaster 

I  was  sitting  in  a  jaunting  car  in  Kerry  (the  wild 
mountainous  southern  county  of  warm-hearted, 
tiery  people  who  boast  of  being  "next  door  to 
America")  when  the  news  first  reached  me.  My 
hostess  came  out  of  a  little  shop  in  the  streets  of 
Tralec.  and  flung  the  words  at  me. 


ALT,     DUBLIN     CAME     To     "IHE     FLXKKAI.      I  HAT     1<(  )L- 
I.OWKI)      IIIK     SH()()TIN(, 

"Hct  work  in  Dr.lilin."  she  said  grimly.  "The 
soldiers  have  been  shooting  civilians,  three  dead, 
one   hundred   wounded." 

()(  the  next  few  hours  I  have  no  coherent  mem- 
ories.     A    b.ard    search    for    newspaiJers.    which    were 

—51— 


^imftw.^:': 


IN    KERRY    AFTER    THE    DUBLIN    DISASTER 

all  sold  out;  confused  incredulous  questions  meeting 
confused  unsatisfying  answers,  a  stunned  sense  that 
the  next  moment  might  bring  the  end  of  the  world. 

For  the  entire  afternoon  my  work  took  me  out 
of  Tralee  to  a  distant  fishing  village,  where  we 
were  the  first  to  bring  the  news.  Each  person  who 
heard  it  seemed  shocked  into  silence.  "Bad,  had," 
was  almost  the  only  comment.  Then,  after  a  time, 
when  the  first  daze  had  passed,  instead  of  rancour 
or  desire  for  vengence,  one  persistent  Isafifling  cjues- 
tion  began  to  arise  in  dififerent  formes  in  each  mind: 
"What  will  it  mean  for   Home   Rule?" 

"It  will  put  the  fear  of  God  into  Carson,"  said  a 
man,  in  low  tones. 

"The   Government   will   go  out,"   said  another. 

"Ah.   but    'twill    stiffen   up    the    Government,"    said 

a  woman.     "Sure  there'll  be  no  half  measures,  now, 

no  exclusion,  no  amending  bill.  They'll  see  we  mean 
business." 

"  'Tis  fearin'  I  am  that  'twill  be  bad  for  Home 
Rule,"  said  another.  "Them  Unionists  will  say 
we're  a  mob  unfit  to  rule." 

Toward  the  close  of  the  day  wild  rumors  1)egan 
to  fly  about.  The  tension  that  had  ])een  gathering 
for  a  week  had  reached  its  climax.  First  had  been 
the  time  of  the  King's  Conference,  with  the  daily 
fear  that  some  concession  would  be  made  that 
might  defeat  Home  Rule.  Then  had  come  on  Sat- 
urday the  report  that  the  War  Office  had  forbidden 
soldiers  or  pensioners  to  help  with  the  Volunteers — 
a  very  serious  blow  in  some  quarters  to  the  hope  of 
effective  drill.  "Sure  'tis  England  that  is  drivin'  us 
into  opposin'  her,  whether  we  will  (ir  no,"  said  a 
car  driver  who  was   also  a  Volunteer. 

Official  England  has  seemed  to  be  drifting  into  a 
position  more   and  more   opposed  to  the   spirit   stir- 

-53- 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


ring  in  Ireland.  Tlien  had  come  the  Dublin  Dis- 
aster. The  news  had  passed  all  day  around  Tralee. 
But  there  was  as  yet  no  second  news,  no  word  of 
Birrell's  statement,  of  Redmond's  speech,  of  the 
Lord  Mayor's  demand  for  the  removal  of  the  Scot- 
tish Borderers.  No  official  utterance  of  any  kind 
l.ad  been  heard,  and  no  one  knew  what  of  conflict 
the  next  hour  would  bring. 

What  wonder  that  in  court  that  day  the  Resident 
Magistrate's  hands  trembled  with  the  strain!  What 
wonder  that  the  lack  of  official  utterance  was  filled 
by  wild  conjectures  and  rumors  of  terror! 

■'All  the  Metropolitan  Police  have  gone  out,  God 
bless  'em,  because  they  wouldn't  charge  the  Volun- 
teers." "Dublin  is  under  martial  law."  "The  Irish 
Guards  are  confined  to  their  barracks  in  London 
with  the  Artillery  trained  on  them."  "No,  'tis  the 
Irish  Lancers  in  Dublin,  for  refusing  to  fight  the 
Volunteers." 

In  the  midst  of  rumors  like  these.  T  found  Tralee 
on  my  return.  Groups  of  men  gathered  along  the 
streets  talking  in  tones  so  low  that  they  interfered 
not  at  all  with  the  air  of  strained,  expectant  silence 
that  hung  over  the  town.  Then  from  a  side  street 
sounded  the  steady  beat  of  a  drum,  and  the  Irish 
Volunteers  appeared,  a  long  column  of  several  hun- 
dred, preceded  by  Boy  Scouts  in  fours.  They 
marched  with  stern,  set  faces,  between  the  silent, 
staring  crowds.  Irish  faces  are  even  more  ex- 
pressive than  Irish  tongues.  These  Volunteers 
looked  as  if  they  were  gazing  into  the  eyes  of  death. 
They  were  unarmed  and  half-drilled,  and  they  knew 
not  whether  the  next  hour  would  call  them  to  die, 
even  perhaps  to  die  in  vain,  for  a  country  again 
enslaved.     If  so,  there  was  no  disputing  the  will  of 

—5;— 


IX    KERRY    AFTER    THE    DUBLIN    DISASTER 


God.      All    this   one   read   in   the   tense    faces   of   the 
men    who   passed. 

By  Tuesday  noon  the  tension  was  broken.  News 
of  Harrell's  suspension,  of  the  speeches  in  Parlia- 
ment, and  of  the  Lord  Mayor's  demand  concerning 
the  Scottish   Borderers,  brought  reassurance. 

"God  bless  him."  they  said  of  the  Mayor,  "but 
he's   the   grand   character  altogether." 

With  the  reaction  came  hope,  praise  of  the  Volun- 
teers for  their  courage  and  discipline  at  Howth,  and 
the  belief  that  the  Dublin  affair  might  even  be 
turned  to  good  uses. 

"Sure,  but  bloodshed  of  anyone  is  always  a  ter- 
rible thing,"  said  a  small  shopkeeper,  "but  'tis  the 
mercy  of  the  Almighty  it  happened  in  Dublin  in- 
stead of  Belfast.  For  then  they'd  all  have  been 
sympathizin'  with  the  Carsonites  instead  of  with 
the  Nationalists.  And  'twill  mean  a  hundred  thou- 
sand recruits  for  the  Volunteers." 

A  villager  several  miles  from  Tralee  confirmed 
this  statement.  "Our  Volunteers  was  gettin'  dis- 
couraged like,  with  nothing  happening,  and  their 
drillmaster  leaving  because  he  was  a  pensioner  and 
couldn't  afford  to  lose  his  pension.  But  on  Monday 
night  two  hundred  recruits  came  to  join,  and  now 
that  they  have  a  few  rifles,  they're  doin'  fine." 

For  on  Tuesday  night  rifles  came  into  Kerry. 
Many  were  the  gleeful  tales  of  hoodwinking  of 
police.  In  one  small  village  twenty  men  appeared 
blind  drunk  in  front  of  the  village  inn.  They  fought 
each  other  ami  insulted  passersby.  It  took  the  four 
village  policemen  two  hours  to  convey  them  to  the 
place  of  detenlinn;  by  that  time  arms  were  in. 

In  the  county  scat  a  double  cordon  of  Volunteers 
surrounded  tlu'  police  liarracks  for  two  hours.  The 
Head  Constable  commented  later  on  the  perfection 
of   the    manocuvers.      .\.    prominent    Unionist   ofiicial 

-55- 


W 
H 


Q 
W 

Pi 

t-H 

o 


uj 


J 


?   ». 


IN    KERRY    AFTER    THE    DUBLIN    DISASTER 


was  surrounded  l)y  fifty  men,  all  in  perfect  order, 
and  asked  to  go  liome.  He  went,  and  to  his  sur- 
prise was  given  a  rousing  cheer.  "Why  should  we 
be  hissing  anyone,"  they  explained  later,  "when 
we  had  things  going  our  way." 

All  Tuesday  1  had  spent  in  the  country  on  a  drive 
between  a  small  village  where  a  market  was  in 
progress,  and  a  fishing  village  of  incredibly  poor 
houses,  recently  bought  by  the  Congested  Districts 
Board  for  improvement.  Kerry  life  had  resumed 
its  wonted  course;  my  driver,  a  village  shopkeeper, 
acquainted  witn  every  oeasant  and  fisherman,  ven- 
tured to  grow  light-hearted. 

"Good  morning  to  ye  ser.geant,"  he  called  as  we 
met  a  policeman:  "and  is  it  many  nfles  ye've  been 
takin'  this   mornin'?" 

"Ah,  it  might  be  a  dozen  or  two,"  said  the  ser- 
geant. "  'Tis  to  Cromane  I'll  lie  goin'  now  for 
guns." 

"Sure,  the  yacht  is  up  at  the  pier,  and  the  rifles 
will  all  be  ofi,"  said  the   driver. 

"It's  too  late  I  am.  is  it?  Likely  then  I'll  be 
meetin'   them  on  the  road.  "   And   he  went   on. 

".\h.  the  police  is  dififercnt  now  to  what  they 
were  altogether."  said  the  driver.  "Sleuth  hounds 
like  they  used  to  be,  and  dirty  beu.gars,  but  now 
there's  some  very  dacint  men  amongst  them.  'Twas 
a  friend  of  myself  was  tellin'  me  yesterday  how 
destroyed  they  are  with  marching  nut  to  Cromane 
every  night  to  look  for  gun-running,  and  a  good 
four  mile  it  is.  'I'll  have  nothing  to  saj-  to  the 
Volunteers,'  says  lie;  'a  line  lot  of  boys  altogether, 
but  'tis  murdered  iur  sleep  we  are  with  those 
damned  guns.'  " 

We  stood  ln'side  the  coast  guard  station  at  Cro- 
mane.  a   large,    nia>>i\c   Iniilding  set   in   a   village    of 

—57— 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 

hovels.  He  indicated  it  with  a  gesture.  "See  how- 
grand  are  the  strongholds  of  England,"  he  said, 
and  was   silent. 

"  'Tis  not  that  I'd  not  be  proud  to  be  a  British 
subject,  but  I  want  to  see  my  land  free,"  he  contin- 
ued in  a  tone  of  yearning  affectionate  patriotism 
that  I  thought  had  died  out  of  the  world.  "And  'tis 
not  that  we've  so  much  of  a  quarrel  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  England,  but  we  think  we  might  be  let 
rule  ourselves  a  bit." 

I  turned  the  talk  to  the  present  Govenrment. 
"The  poor  Liberal  Government."  he  said,  and  com- 
mented on  the  rumors  of  foreign  war,  which  were 
just  then  beginning-  to  shift  dangerously  from  Servia 
and  Austria,  to  Austria  and  Russia.  "If  it  isn't  hav- 
ing the  hardest  career  that  any  government  for  the 
next   hundred  years  will  be  again  through." 

"Do  you  Irish  Volunteers  like  the  present  Gov- 
ernment, or  do  you  think  they've  been  weak  about 
Ireland?" 

"They  could  have  l)een  stiffer  with  the  army."  he 
said,  but  immediately  added:  "And  why  shouldn't 
we  love  the  Liberal  Government!  Sure  'tis  no  mean 
treatment  they're  givin'  us.  I've  seen  the  time  when 
a  man  might  have  had  two  months  in  jail  for 
a-whistlin'  of  'Harvey  Duff,'  and  if  he  was  seen 
drillin'  once,  'twould  have  been  two  years.  Ah,  'tis 
the  grand  thing  that  we  should  be  goin'  out  to  drill, 
and  no  man  to  hinder.  It's  fools  we'd  be  not  to 
love  the  Liberals  for  givin'  us  the  fine  liberty." 

Then  I  began  to  perceive  that  free  drilling  is  to 
the  Irishman,  so  long  deprived  of  the  chance  of 
soldiering  for  his  own  hearth,  the  same  kind  of 
symbol  that  free  speech  is  to  an  Englishman,  a 
thing  beautiful  and  good  m  itself,  not  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  war,  but  as  the  badge  of  a  free  people. 

—58— 


IN    KERRY    AFTER    THE    DUBLIN    DISASTER 


The  Volunteers  mean  to  the  Irishman,  no  mere 
military  movement,  but  the  awakening  of  national 
spirit  and  national  pride.  That  is  why  in  a  little 
village  of  800  souls,  all  peasants  and  fishermen,  the 
collections  at  the  church  gate  for  the  arms  fund 
amounted  to  thirty  pounds.  The  North  was  armed 
by  donations  of  wealthy  men.  "Let  them  pay  for 
it  who'll  make  money  from  it,'  said  an  Ulster  Vol- 
unteer in  my  hearing.  But  the  South  is  armed  by 
the  pittances  of  the  poor  and  by  the  children  of  the 
poor   who   went   to   America. 

"The  Irish  Volunteers,  it's  the  God-send  to  the 
country,  miss,"  said  a  farm  laborer.  "For  why?' 
Ve  get  a  bit  of  brotherhood  into  a  hundred  men 
when  they're  drilling  together,  and  they'll  stick  to 
each    other    after.'" 

"Sure  Ireland  has  too  much  politics  and  too  much 
factions  altogether.  There's  Redmondites  and  Car- 
sonites  and  O'Brienites  and  more.  .And  when  we 
get  a  little  progress,  is  it,  out  of  one  set,  another 
set  comes  along  and  stops  it,  and  the  spirit  is 
quenched   out  of  us   altogether." 

Perhaps  half  a  dozen  times  he  complained  that 
the  spirit  was  ([uenchcd.  Yet  we  were  passing  a 
\illage  of  some  fifty  houses  in  wliich  were  a  hundred 
Volunteers,  and  another  village  of  a  thousand  souls 
with  a  hundred  and  twenty  Volunteers,  and  he  him- 
self was  one  of  sevc-nty  farm  laborers  who,  spon- 
taneously, witli  no  leader,  had  contributed  to  hire  a 
(Irillmaster  for  three  drills  a  week.  If  this  was  "the 
spirit  quenched."  what  will  the  awakening  be? 

Three  memories  of  Kerry  will  rcm.ain  longest,  as 
most  typical  of  the  si)irit  that  lives  in  tiie  Irishman 
of  the  southwest.  The  first  is  in  tlie  evening  scene 
in  the  streets  of  Tralee  when  the  first  news  of  Dub- 
lin  was   still    hot    from   the   wires.      Those    files    and 

-59— 


ON       THE,      EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


flies  of  Volunteers,  with  Boy  Scouts  in  front,  and 
the  look  of  men  who  faced  death  on  their  faces! 
Unarmed  men,  in  the  midst  of  assailing  rumors,  con- 
fronting they  knew  not  what,  tense  yet  in  perfect 
control,  ready  to  go  forward  to  whatever  future  God 
might  decree. 

The  second  is  of  a  beautiful  day  at  Killarney  in 
an  old  Irish  festival,  when  on  a  green  field  in  the 
midst  of  wonderful  mountains,  rank  on  rank  of  Vol- 
unteers passed  the  reviewing  stand  before  a  tall 
man  in  ancient  Irish  costume,  and  a  green  flag  with 
the  Uncrowned  Harp.  Fingall  pipers  in  the  black 
and  white  kilts  of  that  old  Danish  settlement  led 
the  way.  Scattered  among  the  thousands  of  spec- 
tators were  men  in  green  or  saffron  kilts  and  women 
in  the  graceful  embroidered  draperies  of  old  Ireland. 
Thus  Ireland  links  her  latest  hope  of  nationhood 
with  the  glories  of  her  dim  past.  There  were  Vol- 
unteers from  Limerick  with  wooden  practice  guns, 
and  Volunteers  with  bandoliers,  and,  last  of  all,  to 
a  deafening  shout,  came  Volunteers  with  rifles, 
brought  in  the  ni.ght  before.  A  woman  turned  to 
me  in  the  crowd,  "Sure,  'twas  the  Almighty  sent 
them  to  us,  for  to  l^uck  us  up   a  bit." 

More  intimate  than  either  is  the  third  memory. 
The  villager  who  drove  my  jaunting  car  from  Kil- 
lorglin  to  Cromane,  who  introduced  me  to  police- 
men, volunteers,  fishermen  and  schoolmaster,  who 
bought  me  postcards  and  commandeered  for  me 
all  the  posters  and  pamphlets  which  attracted  my 
attention,  and  refused  to  accept  pay  uecause  I  had 
been  sent  by  friends,  led  me  at  last  to  the  village 
chapel.  We  stood  in  the  aisle  for  a  moment,  while 
he  pointed  out  the  beauties  of  altar  and  windows. 
Then  he  dropped  on  his  knees  and  said  quite  sim- 
ply, "We'll  say  our  prayers  now,  for  Ireland." 

--60- 


IN    KERRY    AFTER    THE    DUBLIN    DISASTER 

"Nowhere,  I  think,  but  in  Ireland  could  it  have 
happened.  To  an  acquaintance  of  an  hour,  from  a 
foreign  land,  he  had  offered  freely  and  without  em- 
barrassment the  hospitality  of  village,  of  market 
and  of  pleasant  talk;  now  he  added  to  these  quite 
naturally  a  hospitable  share  in  the  best  he  had — his 
faith.  We  knelt  in  the  village  chapel  and,  with  dif- 
ferent forms  but  to  the  same  God,  prayed — for  Ire- 
land, for  the  speedy  coming  of  Home  Rule,  and  for 
peace. 


-«1- 


The  Declaration  of  War 

"As  an  Irishman  of  the  most  extreme  kind,"  said 
a  fellow  traveler  on  the  road  to  Dublin.  "I'd  like  to 
see  every  German  ship  sunk.  It's  aisy  I'd  slape  in 
my  bed  tonight  if  it  was  done.  Faith,  'tis  little  love 
I  have  for  English  interference  in  our  local  afifairs, 
but  in  the  imperial  matters  now,  'tis  for  England 
to  command.  And  this  war,  we  went  into  it,  not 
light-heartedly,  as  you  might  say,  but  with  heart 
and  conscience,  and  'tis  mesilf  would  put  rifle  to 
shoulder  for  any   foot   of  English   soil." 

"We  went  into  it."  "We,"'  not  "they."  These 
words  were  significant  of  a  revolution  which  four 
days  wrought  in  Ireland,  a  revolution  which  seemed 
sudden  and  overwhelming,  but  which  had  its  be- 
ginnings in  the  subtle  changes  of  thought  and  atti- 
tude which,  in  the  past  few  3'ears,  have  brought  a 
better  understanding  between  the  two  democracies. 
Only  so  can  I  explain  the  fact  that  this  revolution 
was  not  duplicated  among  the  Irish  in  America.  To 
them,  children  of  the  second  generation,  the  ancient 
wrongs  were  more  real  than  recent  attempts  to  right 
them.  To  them  love  of  Ireland  was  an  exact 
synonym  for  hatred  of  England.  But  even  before 
the  European  war,  the  ranks  of  the  Irish  Volunteers 
contained  many  men  whose  loyalt_\  to  the  Empire 
was  beyond  question,  and  many  more  to  whom 
England  seemed  no  longer  an  intentional  enemy, 
but  a  blundering,  misunderstanding  friend.  Even  the 
most  radical  preferred  "the  devil  they  knew  to  the 
unknown  devil"  l)eyond  the  North  Sea.  When  the 
shock  of  war  lirought  all  these  sentiments  into  clear 


THE     DECLARATION     OF     WAR 

consciousness,  events  moved  so  fast  that  each  day 
the  facts  and  spirit  of  the  day  before  seemed  ancient 
history. 

On  Sunday,  August  2,  I  addressed  a  group  of 
Irish  Volunteers  in  a  held  five  miles  from  Limerick. 
Three  hundred  and  fifty  men  were  there,  farm 
laborers  from  the  countryside.  Some  had  had  two 
months'  training  and  marched  well,  more  than  a 
hundred  had  joined  since  the  Dublin  shooting.  The 
English  government  was  not  popular  among  them, 
still  less   the   English  army. 

"Them  Scottish  Borderers,  "tis  assassinated  they'd 
be  if  'twas  shooting  in  County  Limerick  they  were." 

The  Volunteers  were  still  an  illegal  body  and  they 
resented  it.  Organized  for  home  defense,  desiring 
only  the  Home  Rule  already  lawfully  theirs,  thcv 
felt  that  they  had  been  wrongfully  regarded  as 
revolutionists,  and  were  ];)eing  forced  by  events  into 
undesired  violation   of  law. 

"The  Dublin  shooting  has  led  me  to  offer  my 
services  to  the  Provisional  Committee,  for  gun- 
running."  wrote  a  friend,  a  j^romincnt  citizen  who 
had  previously  remained  neutral. 

After  my  address  on  Sunday,  a  i)olice  sergeant 
took  my  name  and  general  history.  "He  was  be- 
hind you  all  the  time  you  spoke,"  said  my  host. 
"I  think  he's  trying  to  connect  you  with  the  gun- 
running  in  Kerry."  So  far  apart  on  Sunday  were 
official    England  and   the  Volunteers. 

On  Monday  the  naval  reserves  were  mobilizing. 
T  saw  a  group  of  them  at  a  station  in  Clare. 
Mothers,  wives,  sweethearts,  children,  clung  to  them 
weeping.  'i'herc  was  sullenne>s  (Ui  the  faces  of 
some  of  the  men.  They  were  leaving,  with  their 
country's  fate  still  undecided,  to  join  an  armed  force 
which    had   just    shot    chiwn    their   cnuntrymen. 

—63— 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


"I  wish  to  God  'twas  fighting  for  Ireland  we 
were,"   I   heard  a   man  say. 

That  night  came  Redmond's  speech,  and  the  face 
of  the  world  changed.  Yet  it  was  not  his  words 
which  surprised  and  put  heart  into  the  Nationalists; 
it  was  the  Tory  and  Unionist  acceptance  of  them. 

The  version  of  Redmond's  speecli  which  I  have 
seen  in  America  contains  a  suggestion  of  lo.valty  "to 
the  king."  I  remembej  no  such  words  when  I  saw 
it  hot  from  the  wires  in  Limerick.  In  common  with 
all  Ireland,  I  was  watching  Redmond  closely.  An 
offer  of  allegiance  to  George,  a  gift  of  the  Volun- 
teers to  the  British  War  Office,  would,  I  felt  then 
and  still  feel,  have  been  repudiated  by  the  Irish 
people,  still  bitter  with  the  Dublin  shooting.  But 
all  Ireland  cheered  his  statesmanship  when,  in  the 
form  of  a  magnanimous  offer,  accepted  as  a  real 
help  by  the  people  of  England,  though  somewhat 
tardily  by  the  government,  he  uttered  the  strongest 
Nationalist  demand  made  for  a  generation. 

"Withdraw  all  your  soldiers,  and  Ireland  will  be 
defended  by  her  own  armed  sons."  It  was  for  this 
the  Volunteers  had  come  into  being.  What  the 
Home  Rule  Bill  denied  them,  Redmond  asked  for 
and  secured.  "An  army  of  Irishmen  defending 
Ireland's  shores" — the  wildest  revolutionist  had  no 
more  glowing  vision.  "In  conjunction  with  our 
brothers  of  the  North,"  it  was  what  they  had  long 
prayed  for  and  been  denied.  hVom  the  beginnmg 
of  the  Volunteer  movement  they  had  cherished  one 
dear  dream,  that  they  might  become  an  Irish  army 
of  Home  Defense.  And  now  that  dream  was  ap- 
plauded by  their  traditional  opponents.  They  felt 
that   at   last   they   were   trusted   and   vmderstood. 

On  Tuesday,  when  the  Unionist  enthusiasm  had 
not    yet    come,    the    Nationalist   acceptance    of    Red- 


T  H  E     D  E  C  L  A  R  .V  T  -I  O  N     OF     W  A  R 


niond's  speech  was  still  slightly  tinged  with  distrust 
of  England. 

•'Hc"ll  have  had  i)rivate  assurance  that  the  Home 
Rule  I! ill  will  be  signed,"  said  a  man.  "Faith,  he'll 
not  be  turning  us  over  to  England  to  do  with  as 
England  plazes,  not  with  England  denying  us  our 
rights.  'Ti>  our  own  shores  we'll  Tight  for,  but  let 
them  make  the  shores  our  own,  if  they  want  to  put 
the  heart  into  us.  And  'tis  under  our  own  com- 
mittee we'll  fight,  not  under  the  British  War  Office. 
along  with   Scottish   Borderers." 

■'Is  is  wantin'  our  help  they  are,"  said  another,  "or 
is  it  wantin'  to  desthroy  the  drillin'  altogether,  with 
all   our   drillmasters   gone  away  as   reservists?" 

But  as  each  successive  newspaper  contained  more 
evidence  of  Unionist  appreciation,  and  of  the  ac- 
ceptance of  their  help,  if  not  yet  officially,  at  least 
informally  by  hundreds  of  their  old  opponents,  their 
spirits  rose.  All  their  gentry,  so  long  estranged 
by  race,  religion,  politics  and  unwillingness  to  un- 
derstand,  were   joining   them   at   last. 

"Glory  be  to  God,  but  Lord  M —  is  with  us,  and 
the  Earl  of  B —  will  be  joinin'  the  Volunteers,  and 
the   Protestants   of  Athlone   are  all   comin'   in." 

"It  seems  to  me  they  are  a  bit  late  about  it." 
said   1. 

■■\\  liat  matter  for  that?  'Tis  open  arms  we  have 
for  them,  whenever  they  come,"  said  a  woman  who 
had  suffered  long  ostracism  from  Protestant  neigh- 
bors as  almost  the  only  Catholic  member  of  the 
country    gentry. 

The  new  enthusiasm  overflowed  into  song.  "The 
nation  that  takes  a  song  to  war  has  the  cause  that 
wins,"  says  a  prominent  writer.  Few  nations  ex- 
cept the  Irish  have  been  stirred  bj^  recent  events  to 
good  singing.  One  of  the  best  was  printed  in  the 
Irish  Times,  that  old  Unionist  organ,  under  the 
title  of  "The   iri-^h   \'iiluiUeer>."  by  C.  B.  Armstr<Jng: 

—65— 


THE     DECLARATION     OF     WAR 


Island   of   Dreams,   thy  dawn  is   breaking. 

Breaking  with   storm  and   sword  and   flame, 
Spirits  of  battle  attend  your  waking. 

You  of  the   Irish  name. 
All   that  is   fair  and   true  and   holy 

Springs  to  birth  from  the  hre  of  strife: 
Erin  the  dreamer,  sad  and  lowly, 

Wakes  to  a  nobler  life. 

Xow  when   Britain's   might  and  glory 

Rise  in  anger   to  guard  the  right. 
Rise   to  write  in  her  ancient  story 

One   more   le'.4Ciul   Ijright. 
You,  the  guard  of  a  land  united. 

Heal    the   wound   at   the   Empire's   heart, 
Pledge  of  a  thousand  errors  righted, 

Playing  a   Nation's  part. 

Emerald  field  and  purple  heather 

Pour  to  the   tight  their  armed  hosts 
North  and  South  forever  together 

Guard  our  island  coasts. 
One  in  love  of  the  land  that  bore  you. 

One  the   King  and  the  Flag  you  claim, 
God   of  battles,   keep  watch  before    you, 

Men  of  the    Irish  name. 

The  same  enthusiasm  was  expressed  in  a  letter 
from  a  Belfast  Nationalist.  "The  Home  Rule  Bill  is 
as  nothing  compared  to  the  recognition  of  the  right 
to  bear  arms.  More  changes  will  come  about  as  the 
result  of  Redmond's  speech  and  the  Prime  Min- 
ister's announcenu'iU  about  arming  the  Iri>h  Volun- 
teers than  have  come  about  since  the  two  islands 
came  into  the  relationship  that  has  lasted  in  one 
form  or  other  since  1171.  For  the  first  time  Eng- 
land is  trusting   Ireland  witli  her  own   defense.    And 

—67— 


ON       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


Carson's  game  is  up;  he  missed  his  chance  of  doing 
the  right  and  great  thing  rightly  and  greatly;  and 
there  is  just  one  more  moment  when  he  may  re- 
trieve the  blunder.  When  the  bill  is  actually 
signed,  he  may  say  something  which  will  be  written 
in  the  history  books  as  John  Redmond's  five-minute 
speech  will  be  written.  And  if  he  does  not,  then 
he  is  the  biggest  failure  of  this  astonishing  revolu- 
tion. He  can't  set  up  his  provisional  government; 
he  can't  even  talk  about  civil  war  without  being- 
hounded  out  of  public  life,  if  not  actually  impeached 
for  high  treason.  The  only  thing  he  can  do  is  to 
help  Ireland,  or  else  clear  out.  It  is  all  wonderful 
past  imagining.  One  is  glad  to  be  alive  and  see  it 
all — what  the  generations  have  dreamed   in  vain." 

Thus  it  happened  that  when  the  army  reservists 
left  Limerick  they  were  taken  to  the  station  amid 
scenes  of  excited  rejoicing.  Bands  met  them  as 
the  train  passed  town  after  town,  bands,  waving  of 
handkerchiefs,  and  gay  cheers.  For  they  were  go- 
ing now,  not  to  fight  for  an  alien,  misunderstand- 
ing ally,  but  for  a  United  Kingdom.  And  the  en- 
thusiasm for  the  protection  of  Ireland  began  to 
grow  into  a  devotion  to  England  herself,  until  the 
only  open  expression  of  sympathy  for  the  Germans' 
cause  came  from  a  few  extreme  Orangemen  of  the 
North,  angry  at  the  sudden  popularity  of  the  Nation- 
alists among  the  Tories  of  the  South  and  of  Eng- 
land. 

"  'Tis  an  extreme  Home  Ruler  I  am,  and  worse 
than  that,  an  extreme  raypublican,"  said  a  Kerry- 
man,  ''but  if  a  foreign  force  should  land  at  Liver- 
pool, or  any  spot  in  England,  I'd  be  the  first  to 
fight.  For  why?  Sure  ye  can  go  to  any  spot  in 
the  British  Isles  and  say:  'Down  with  the  king. 
Hurrah   for   a    Raypublic!'   and   'tis    nothin'    they   do 


THE     DECLARATION     OF     WAR 

to  ye,  beyond  maybe  the  takin'  of  yer  name  be  the 
police.  But  if  ye  was  to  go  to  Gairmany  and  say 
'Down  with  the  Kaiser,'  'tis  gettin'  two  years  or 
worse  ye  would  be.  Ah,  Gairmany's  a  despotism, 
and  'tis  the  tine  liberty  the  English  laws  do  be 
givin'  us." 

"  'Tis  the  Gairmans  have  already  been  oppressin' 
us,"  said  a  shrewd  workman.  "There's  ten  million 
pound  put  into  the  British  navy  that  should  have 
gone  to  build  up  the  country  and  to  help  the  work- 
ing people.  Whose  fault  was  that:  'Twas  Gair- 
many's. Sure,  England  asked  for  a  naval  holiday, 
and  the  other  powers  were  willing,  but  the  Gair- 
mans, they  said:  'To  hell  with  your  agreement; 
what  business  is  it  of  yours  what  we  do?'  And  we 
had  to  spend  the  money.  (Again  I  noticed  the 
"we"  on  the  lips  of  the  radical.)  And  I'm  thinkin' 
if  this  war  puts  a  stop  to  the  Gairnian  armament 
competition,  'twill  have  something  good  to  say  for 
itself." 

"Sure.  English  laws  are  the  finest  in  the  world." 
said  another,  "though  'tis  in  Ireland  they're  enforced 
with  partiality,  and  not  fairly  as  in  England.  And 
'tis  stupid  for  an  Imperial  Parliament  to  decide  the 
drainage  of  Cork.  Sure  they  had  a  bit  of  drainage 
to  be  done  at  1,100  pounds,  and  it  cost  them  3,000 
pounds  legal  expenses  and  took  them  three  years  to 
get  it  through  Parliament.  What  sinse  is  there  in 
that?  Sure,  'tis  our  own  local  affairs  we'd  be 
runnin'  as  they've  voted  us  the  right. 

"But  could  Ireland  afford  an  aruiy  or  navy  by 
itself?  Ye  look  on  the  map,  and  Ireland's  just  one 
little  spot,  and  England's  another,  and  if  they  don't 
stick  together,  where  are  they?  Ireland  must  be 
givin'  her  fair  share  of  taxes  to  the   Imperial   Gov- 

—69— 


ox       THE       EVE       OF       HOME       RULE 


ernment  for  to  protect  the  whole  of  the  British 
Isles  and  the   Empire  as  well." 

The  quotations  I  have  been  giving  were  the 
words,  not  of  Unionists,  nor  even  of  moderate  Na- 
tionalists, but  in  many  cases  of  uiembers  of  the 
extreme  wing  of  "republican"  Nationalists.  As  such 
they  are  significant,  for  they  were  given  ungrudg- 
ingly, with  no  conditions  attached,  largely  as  the 
result  of  gratitude  for  the  way  in  which  southern 
Unionists  and  English  were  receiving  Redmond's 
offer.  But  while  given  without  condition,  there  was 
none  the  less  present  in  the  heart  of  each  man  a 
perfect  trust  that  the  new  good-wifl  meant  Home 
Rule. 

"As  sure  as  the  sun  is  in  the  sky,  Ireland  gets 
Home  Rule,"  said  a  villager.  "  'Tis  then  we'll  be 
lightin'  the  candles  in  the  cottage  windows  and  set- 
ting fires  on  the  hills.  I  had  four  candles  mesilf 
in  every  window  at  the  first  readin'  of  the  bill,  and 
'tis  six  I'll  burn  when  the  king  do  be  signin'  it,  God 
bless  him,  if  it  costs  me  the  price  of  a  day's  food. 
'Tis  all  the  hills  of  Ireland  will  be  alight  to  cele- 
brate the  day,  if  there  be  any  candles  left  be  the 
war  at  all." 

Were  the  candles  lit  at  the  signing  of  the  bill? 
Or  were  hearts  discouraged  by  the  year's  postpone- 
ment and  the  knowledge  that  the  old  fight  must  be 
fought  again  when  the  Amending  Bill  comes  up? 
I  have  no  way  of  knowing.  For  while  Ireland  was 
still  impatiently  awaiting  the  word  of  the  exact 
status  to  be  given  the  Volunteers,  I  was  hurried  from 
her  shores  with  lights  out  and  under  forced  draught 
to  the  only  continent  at  peace.  No  adequate  news 
crosses  the  ovean;  the  thick  clouds  of  a  world 
catastrophe  hide  from  me  the  fair  hills  of  holy  Ire- 
land.     l!ut   this    I    know,   that   the   lights   will   indeed 

—70- 


THE     DECLARATION     OF     WAR 


be  lit  and  the  sorrows  forgotten,  not  only  of  this 
great  war,  but  of  the  well-remembered  seven  hun- 
dred years,  when  the  day  comes  which  is  now,  to 
all  human  calculations,  certain,  and  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment takes  its  place  again  in  the  old  buildings  on 
College  Green. 


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